Ten years ago I would’ve balked at camping only 30 minutes from my house. Camping back then, was a deep woods, off grid and dirty affair, in a canvas tent and air mattress that would inevitably go flat before night’s end. Once we had kids though, that novelty of roughing it began to wear off and it wasn’t long before Edgar was on the hunt for a trailer to make camping easier and in his mind, more enjoyable. He quickly found one, a vintage little number, which gave me doubts the first time I laid my eyes on it, but since then, it’s completely converted me to a trailer loving camp goer. It just makes it so easy to roll up most anywhere, and stake claim to a piece of dirt in under 30 minutes. And if that piece of dirt is less than an hour from my front door and includes ocean views, even better.

Kayak Point Regional County Park is 670 acres of outdoor fun located on the shores of Port Susan. Initially, the park was part of the ancestral territory of the Snohomish tribe and after a series of land grabs by Seattle area developers, it became a seaside resort which operated from the 1920’s to the 1950’s.

Kayak Point derived it’s name from the two Inuit kayaks which hung above the resort’s door and which had been brought down from Alaska by the resort owner’s sons who had utilized the kayaks on their Arctic expedition trip. The kayaks were such a novelty to the area visitors, that the resort soon became synomous with them and the name stuck. After the resort closed its doors, the land changed hands a few times, finally becoming the Kayak Point Park that it is today in the 1970’s.

Kayak Point has a bit of everything, a saltwater beach, boat launch, fishing pier, playground, campground and even yurts available to rent. So it seemed like the perfect destination for my cousin Remi’s first camping trip stateside. He had just flown in from France and though our Washington weather was being its typical unpredictable self, we loaded up the trailer and headed out.

Once we had set up camp, it was off for a quick hike thru the nearby woods. There are a few different trails to choose from, including some which lead down to the beach. Though there are no tide pools really to explore, there was still plenty of marine life around, and the boys spent hours hunting down starfish, crabs and other oceanic creatures.

The beach area itself recently underwent a huge renovation, and there’s plenty of parking to be had along with picnic shelters and numerous picnic tables. It was a great place to launch my new paddle board, and though Port Susan is salt water, since it’s relatively shallow, it is usually warmer than its Pacific Ocean counterpart.

Paddling thru the pier pilings has a very Pirates of the Caribbean vibe and everywhere I looked, there were a variety of different colored starfish. The boat launch is well used and all afternoon, there were boats coming and going on their hunt for crabs in the bay.

And though Kayak Point is only 30 minutes from my front door, camping there feels like a world away. It’s got just enough nature to lose yourself among the trees and yet you’re still able to get up in the morning for a quick latte run if you forgot the coffee at home. And in my book, that’s really the best of both worlds.

Kayak Point Regional County Park

15610 Marine Drive, Stanwood, WA 98292

360-652-7992

*Campground is open year round with 30 sites to choose from*