This was my first camping trip to Bay View in years, and my very first in the winter months. We're working hard on our goal to camp at least once a month in 2023, so this not-too-far spot seemed like a great spot to check out on a blustery January weekend. We were lucky to snag a partial hookup (power/water) site in the first loop (sites 1-9), which features views of the bay. The campground host was kind enough to help guide us as we backed in our new trailer, which is a LOT bigger than our old one! Soon enough we were snug in our site and all hooked up. The loop eventually filled up for the weekend and was very quiet. While our site didn't have a sewer hookup, there's a dump station at the park which is free for overnight campers. There's not a lot to do at this park, it's pretty small. But the beach is gorgeous, with nighttime views across the bay to the eerily gorgeous refineries to the west. We didn't do much exploring, except for a day trip to nearby Edison for some beers and lunch. read more

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Pretty nice place it's kind of secluded. It's very quiet and clean. Every one of the people there are extremely nice , The park, Rangers are excellent, very helpful and friendly , The prices are very reasonable , And the scenery is excellent . read more

Love it here! Come! Campsites are well taken care of. Fall is the PERFECT time to see this beautiful place! read more

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I really don't think some of Washington's state parks are as deserving as other state parks but Bay View State Park is one that has this status in a worthy way. There are beaches to stroll along as well as places to pic nic and enjoy the day. But what really makes this state park beautiful is the view. You can see Anacortes, some of the San Juan Islands, Lummi Island and perhaps even some Canadian mountains. We had a Discover Pass which we pay for and get "free" entrance for a whole year in Washington parks so if you plan on going to a lot of these parks then it's well worth getting. read more

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If you're looking to go camping but not drive too far from the city, this is a good campground to try. The cabin had all the basic amenities. It even had a heater! There's not much to do around the campground other than walk across the street to the beach. You definitely can hear cars driving past, but it's not that bad. read more

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It is a very quiet peaceful park, close to the beach and stunning views. Our site was easily accessible with water and electrical hookups no sewer. We are enjoying our stay here and would recommend it as a peaceful getaway. read more

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Camped here with the family last week. A very clean and well maintained state park. Very simple site with nice beach area. It's a great site to watch sunset. Site with clear COVID safety signs. Perfect for a quick long weekend getaway. read more

Bay View State Park - Parks Near Me - Mount Vernon, Washington

Great place to camp. Nice campsite. The camp hosts were very helpful. Bathrooms were very clean.

We camped here a few years ago and had a good time. But I always wanted to stay in one of the cabins. It's a lot cheaper and has more availability in the off season. Always booked solid in the summertime. Plus I think it's more fun to stay in a cabin in the fall/winter. We had fun decorating it all christmasy. The cabins have adjustable heating in the main room and bathroom. A full sized bed and bunk beds. Nothing is included in the cabin you need to bring all your own linens and cooking utensils etc. My only complaint is the beds were really hard. So bring a mattress pad if you don't like hard beds. We stayed in cabin 6 which looked like the only ada accessible cabin that had a ramp. It also has the best view of the bay I think. Cabins 5 & 6 are the only ones with bathrooms. Cabin 5 also has a shower. Pets are allowed at $15 extra a night. Just not allowed in cabin 5 that has the shower. But the campground has a big restroom building not far from the cabins with a shower. A new addition I noticed they have a microwave and mini fridge/freezer in the cabin now. You have to cook anything else outside. So we brought a small folding table and little camp stove to cook out on the deck. But there is a fire pit with grill as well. A path right by the cabin with stairs leads down to the really nice day use area. It has pit toilets, picnic tables, and a picnic shelter. You get beautiful views of Padilla bay and surrounding areas. So worth it to check out just the day use area alone. Just down the road from the park is the padilla bay interpretive center that has a nice aquarium and exhibits. Also some nice walking trails and one leads to an awesome viewpoint overlooking the bay. read more

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This is a very nice park for a quick camping trip, though it isn't for everyone. We rented cabin #5 -- the cabin was very nice, with a restroom and shower (though not all of the cabins have this). Our friends rented the cabin next door, and we stayed 2 nights. The park has a very nice view -- it is very pretty. We purchased firwood at the front gate, and really enjoyed the fire pit and the view the next morning. The park itself doesn't have much to do. The beach is rocky and the puget sound does not offer waves, so there is lots of seaweed in the water. Pretty from a distance, but nothing you would want to swim in. Instead, you can use this state park as a launching pad for day trips. We took the ferry at Anacortes to Friday Harbor on San Juan island. It is a short drive, and was a very nice vacation day using the state park as our home base. read more

Other than the fantastic view of Padilla Bay from the beach below the campground this is a pretty typical state park. The sites are adequate. No full hookups but there is a dump station at the entrance. One interesting thing is the wild berry plants growing here. The blackberries were ripe when we stayed here and don't think I didn't sample heavily! read more

Bay View State Park - Parks Near Me - Mount Vernon, Washington

Bay View State Park is a gem of a state park. The campgrounds were kept immaculately maintained. Our ADA cabin was charming and clean. The microwave and mini fridge were clean and up-to-date. I loved the view from the from porch of Padilla Bay and the porch swing added to the joy of sitting and viewing. The restrooms were very clean and the campground staff very friendly and helpful. I would certainly go back there again! read more

It is one of our special events places. Clean and comfortable cabins, with a great view and a very short walk to the waterfront. We have seen racoons (your standard trash panda), bald eagles, cormorans, ducks, geese, etc. Reasonably priced. Book early, especially if you want cabin 5 (with a full bathroom) or 6 (restroom). read more

Apparently they now take reservations year round (parks.wa.gov), so no more 'first come-first served' for your favorite spots. Very nice little park, not overrun with Canadians like Birch Bay or Larrabee SP's are (because WA State Parks are light years better than BC Provincial Parks). The utility sites are mostly level, but the growth between sites can limit awning use. Everyone there is friendly, the staff is great and the park is always very clean. Further reviews can be found on RVparkreviews.com, but I will add that cell coverage is good, and TV comes in over the air from Seattle and Bellingham, (plus analog stations from BC) and Dish coverage is good in most spots, even with roof mounted receivers. Bay View is worth the drive and the money - go there and enjoy your weekend! read more

Nice clean park, divided on both sides of the highway. East side (away from water) has cabins, pull ins for RV's with/with out full hook-ups and in the middle of it all is a huge grassy field for playing catch, soaking up some rays or whatever. It's really nice. The other side of the park is beach. A ton of beach access, you can see the different islands easily and they have a reader board that explains which island you are looking at. Really neat and very educational. You will need either a Discovery Pass or pay the daily rate of $10 to park. There are fire pits, picnic tables and BBQ grills. This park is very well maintained. read more

Bay View State Park - Welcome to the park - Parks Near Me - Mount Vernon, Washington

Great way to escape the city for a weekend, even in winter! I just got back from a weekend in cabin #2, and it was awesome. It was pretty simple - 1 queen and 2 twin beds (bunk bed style), a small table and chairs for two, a porch swing (loved the porch swing), and fire pit and picnic table outside with a great view of the bay, factories, mountains, etc. We spent the weekend hanging out, reading, building a fire, and walking down to the waterfront. The camp host was a really nice guy. He told us that cabins 5 & 6 have bathrooms and cost a bit more than 1-4. There isn't much privacy for any of the cabins. Cabin 1 is tucked slightly behind 2; 3 & 4 seem like a good pair to rent together. They have a big 'group site' for tent camping, with room for 65, according to the host. That would be tight, but it seems like there is room for 6-8 tents with lots of room in between. The rv/tent camping spots looked pretty barebones and close together, but wouldn't be bad as a base camp for adventuring around Bellingham, Anacortes, Whidbey, etc. Downtown Anacortes is a nice place to grab a meal and drink, maybe 15 minutes away. If you find them strangely beautiful, like we did, you can drive around the little peninsula that houses the big Shell Oil refinery. We saw a few bald eagles out there, and with the backdrop of oil production, it just felt so darn American it hurt. And smelled bad. read more

This is a decent park. Pros: There is a great big play field in the middle of the park. Kids congregate and it is cool. The beach area has a lot of grass and great wind for kites. There are bald eagles flying all over the place. There is a decent small aquarium a short drive N. of the park. Worth an hour maybe. Good on a rainy day. Cons: The camp sites are a touch close together. The beach, when the tide goes out, is a giant mud flat. Don't plan on tide-pooling here. The mens room seems to have a perennially wet floor. The connections to the sites are mostly gravel - don't expect your scooter or road bike to be of much use. read more

My husband and I decided to go here for New Year's Eve, hoping for a nice quiet getaway. It was pretty alright, but definitely not quiet. Not the park's fault though, we were really close to the road, the reservation (lots of fireworks), and the people in the cabins near us were partying and yelling, while their dogs were barking most of the time. We stayed in one of the cabins (#3). Here's what I thought. Pros: cute, cozy, the cabin has heat, light, and electrical outlets, nice woodwork and handmade furniture, pretty good view of the bay, adorable porch with porch swing, good price. Also, the beach is very close as are hikes in Anacortes, and restaurants and shops if you didn't bring enough supplies. Oh, and they even heated up the cabin for us before we got there. That was nice :) Cons: the mattresses in the cabins were THE most uncomfortable things I had ever slept on, that including the ground, camping sleeping mats, and piles of clothes. My back and neck hurt like crazy. The cabins are right near the road, and close together so you're not going to get a serene park experience. A couple more FYIs, they have ice and firewood, wood is 7 bucks a bundle, I think ice is 2. The showers are free for an ice cold one, 50 cents to make the water hot for three minutes. And it DOES get hot. The bathrooms are just camp bathrooms, not any worse or better than I've ever seen. The stalls are private enough. I don't think I'll go back, as I'm ever searching for the perfect spot for peace and quiet (and a decent night's sleep), but I enjoyed myself while we were there. read more

We camped here for memorial weekend. The staff was super friendly and the park was clean. Bathrooms are well kept and hot showers were nice. We had site 66 which is one of the more private spots but most didn't have much in the way of privacy. The crowd was great. There is a nice large area for soccer games and volleyball sets. No swimming. Padilla bay was condemned while we were there it would t have been a good place to swim anyways. Nice beach area for kites! Sunsets were beautiful! Will go again for sure! read more

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For the most part this was a wonderful stay. When we arrived we spent all our cash before hand and had to ask to pay debit card for 2 night $15/night pet fee. The staff were very accommodating and very sweet about telling us about how the park ranger was strict on keeping our dog leashed at all times. Our dog didn't enjoy being tied up anytime we were cooking outside but it was better then a hefty fine. There was a lady and her child who acted like we were behind her kid stepping in dog poop. But when both me and my partner who pulled out poop bags after she asked us for one... she promptly dismissed herself. The cabin was great although the neighbor cabin was pretty noisy with her screaming children. But that's not any reflection of the property. The bathrooms had showers for 50 cents with super hot water. I wish there were more parks like this one that were dog friendly. If you are a responsible pet owner like us, then this place is for you! read more

Beautiful park with gorgeous rustic log cabins. The cabins are very clean and the park workers have been so friendly and helpful! read more

Bay View State Park - Parks Near Me - Mount Vernon, Washington

Wow, this park is clean, but the camp sites are uber close, and the sites are pretty narrow (width of two cars)... you can really hear all your neighbour's conversations so it could be annoying or you could get to know them. That said, everyone was friendly there and the area itself has some nice walks by the water. Also clean bathrooms and pet friendly (they've got pet parking!) read more

Not bad but not fantastic. Water said no animals or people. Bathrooms were gross. Spots were small.

Bay View is a pretty chill spot with a scenic view with some interesting marine life. While we were walking along the beach area we came across a crane hunting for lunch, which was pretty awesome because it actually took off and glided along the water near the coast. There are some picnic tables that could make for a pretty sweet bbq/picnic outing. The area around bay view has some interesting scenic spots too. Overall it was a nice, quiet scenic area. read more

Bay View State Park - Craning - Parks Near Me - Mount Vernon, Washington

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We live local to this park and being that I recently sealed the outside of my little 10' camp trailer, wanted to test it out locally, so my daughter and I camped here for 4 nights. Before we were greeted by the camp host (park ranger), a family pulled up next to us and let their large dog out which came running right into our campsite, violating our food and slathering my daughters face and my hands with dog slobber. I called out "Is someone missing a dog?" and one of the adults only then called their dog back. The park ranger (a kind woman) pulled up and greeted us, reviewing the rules with us and was very friendly. When she mentioned that it is the LAW that dogs be on a leash at ALL TIMES, we mentioned that the family next to us came in with a dog who had already ruined our dinner. The park ranger went and mentioned to the family the rules and reinforced that their dog MUST be on a leash at ALL TIMES. I could hear the man next to us agreeing and the park ranger drove off. 2 minutes later, their kids and the big dog were out in the center grassy area playing with their dog off of the leash. My father came to visit and to check out the camp site and we wound up talking about this discourteous family and their dog. On my father's way out, he mentioned to the park ranger about the dog still not being on a leash. The park ranger's husband (or camp host) returned and mentioned it again to the family, who said that they would keep their dog leashed. 30 minutes later, the dog was running around again. There was no follow up with the park ranger again and it wasn't clear how to get in touch with her. Fortunately the family left the next morning. The park looked nice at first glance. We took a walk down to the beach area and that was pleasant, however walking back into the camp area, the center grassy play area smelled heavily of dog feces. My daughter and I walked across the grass area and noticed dog crap scattered around so it was like walking through a minefield of poop. When we got back to the campsite, everything around the area smelled like someone had dumped their septic outside somewhere close, it reeked of urine and poop for the rest of the time we were there, all around our campsite. We had no toilet or portapotti so it wasn't us, we were using the bathroom facility provided. The bathrooms were okay and the shower in the mens room worked well .50 cents resolved a decent shower with a little leftover for a hollywood scene. A day later someone else was walking their big dog (Great Dane) out in the grassy area where it copped a squat and took a huge crap right there. I called out to the person that the park provided poop bags and where to get them... and the person responed with "We have plenty of bags, thank you!" and then didn't pick up their dogs poop. Heck, can you blame them? Who wants to pick up poop if you can just leave it there and no one is going to do anything about it? There were no clearly marked dog designated areas as I have seen at other parks. Just a roofed information board. The big field looks deceptively inviting to play frisbee or boccee or badmitton or any of the other fun activities that we take with us in our "fun box" but it was too NASTY to risk. We like to metal detect also but didn't do that here either. I understand why people want to bring their dogs camping, I also understand why they have leash laws. Many people with animals do not full accept the responsibility of the animal, or what they would call "family member" defensively...and unfortunately as a result, this parks play area was NASTY and NOT FUN. People can be inconsiderate, however that is why we have park rangers to enforce these laws. Though I personally liked the park ranger, she wasn't doing her job in my opinion. After the second incident with the dog, the park ranger should have followed up with me, giving me her contact number or a way to reach her should I see the dog off the leash again and/or should have told the people that if their dog was off the leash again, they would be asked to leave and then enforced it. I would like to see a roped off area designated for dogs or a fenced in dog park where people can allow their dogs to run playfully, sniffing other dogs and other people who wish to be sniffed and slathered on with slobber. I would like to see signs by the field area that clarify that dogs must be on a leash. I would like to see the play area free of dog poop. I would like to have a campground smell like the kind of nature you find in a forested meadow by the ocean, not like the kind of nature you find in a septic tank. I would like to see the park ranger enforce the rules and keep a more watchful eye on those who show signs of contempt. This is a beautiful park and has the potential to be very nice with a few minor changes and some significant clean-up. There appeared to be 15 amp, 30 amp, and 50 amp service at the electrical box at the campsite, as well as a fresh water outlet. read more

went with another family for a mid-summer 3 day trip because it was the last campsite available 6 weeks prior. when we arrived I found our site which had a fire pit with a picnic table right next to it surrounded by some bushes. i looked around for a place to put the tents but couldn't find one except at the adjacent site. I asked the ranger who looked at the site and pointed out that we needed to camp in the parking spot. I was like "really...for $30 per night?...a parking spot?". She was nice about it but the campground was completely full and we had no other option so we parked the larger of our vehicles in the overflow and set the tents up around my mini on the gravel parking spot. the neighboring campers were also very close to us...almost as if we were at the same site. I have been camping for 52 years and never camped somewhere as cramped as this! otherwise the place is nice. there are showers and firewood for sale and the fred meyer in Burlington is only 20 min away. read more