Just wrapped up the long Labor Day weekend in Seattle with a two night camping trip on the western coast of Washington! It was an amazing time with a road trip getting out to the bougie Snow Peak Campfield in Long Beach, Washington. It filled my cup to see friends from New York and Seattle that I haven’t seen since January. It was a resolution to see these friends more often, and I felt so good in January making it out to New York for a birthday, but that means after this weekend, in 2025 I’ve seen this group of people just twice! As the years go by, the days together are so much more precious.
Here’s how we planned this 2 day trip to Snow Peak, with some hopefully practical things we did to make the trip smooth for the typical reader along with some fun pictures where you might laugh when you picture my goofball friends.
Tip: Snow Peak has a lot of gear, but leaves you to figure out your sleeping situation. We rented sleeping bags (which came with clean sleeping bag liners) from REI and bought an inflatable travel pillow from Amazon to sleep on. That’s all we needed! You can rent sleeping pads for under your sleeping bag from Snow Peak (I’d recommend, since it makes the overnight sleep that much easier).
From Seattle downtown, it took us 3.5 hours on a Monday morning southbound toward Long Beach. The drive is relatively smooth as we’re driving against traffic from everyone commuting into Seattle. We chose to drive straight there and stopped by Oysterville Farms for a late lunch, but we were a bit unlucky as the tide hadn’t gotten low enough the previous day to refill their oysters, so they were out when we got there! We ordered a healthy serving of everything else they had to offer: clam chowder, sweet breads, smoked scallops, smoked oysters, pickled herring, and squid salad. Even without fresh raw oysters, it still made an idyllic lunch by the water.
On arriving, we were provided wheelbarrows in the parking lot to move items from the car to our site, as the whole campfield is “car free”, so be prepared for a 5 minute walk in with anything you bring.
We had sites 34 and 36 which I thought were well shaded in the back corner of the field, which offered slightly more privacy than other sites we walked by, but were still very close to trash cans and the bathroom. Speaking of which, the fact that there’s a very clean building with private bathrooms and showers was an awesome feature. The staff are available throughout the field moving between sites and are really helpful in getting you set up. Since it was just after Labor Day and we checked in around 3pm, they were still cleaning some items, so we got some of our rental gear a bit later. But they came with tents, sleeping pads, grills, grill table, portable kitchens, and gas canisters. We bought a few log bundles and enough ice to fill our coolers from the nearby campstore.
Packing list
Via Snow Peak: tents, pads, grill, grill table, portable kitchen, gas canisters, logs, ice
You should pack: sleeping bag, pillow, headlamp, power bank, layers for wind/rain, beach/spa towel, slippers for the showers, earplugs/eye mask, coffee setup (or plan to use cafe), cooler (ice at camp store), trash bags, food
Snow Peak gear was definitely a highlight of the trip. When your grill fits perfectly, when the tables are stable and modular to hold water, foods, cutting boards, and even a portable stove, it was seamless to cook for the 14 of us. I think if you do any sort of backpacking or camping, Snow Peak gear is phenomenal quality and portability (for a premium price!). Everybody pitched in, from Tim marinating our kalbi a few days beforehand to Josh maintaining the fire to grill them on. We roasted some perfectly brown-all-around marshmallows, and in the mornings used the grill for everything from carrots to tortillas. We ate GOOD.
The next day, we drove a short while to the Discovery Trail, aptly named as the ending point of Lewis and Clark’s famous expedition. Turns out they stopped along this Long Beach peninsula. The beach itself is gigantic, the biggest I’ve ever seen, and I couldn’t even see the ends. It was such a wide, expansive, soft-sanded beach that I couldn’t help but feel awestruck. The trail runs parallel and small, rolling hills of tall grass protect you from the winds common from over the Pacific. We got really lucky with a warm, sunny day.
Coming back, we relaxed with a few games on the campground but the highlight came in the nighttime where we could reserve spots at the Ofuro or on-site onsen. It includes a sauna, hot tub, cold plunge, and a few showers/washrooms. This was PEAK relaxation time, where we would cycle between sauna to shower to cold plunge to hot tub, a highlight of the stay for me. I could only last about 30 seconds in the cold plunge, while some friends could go for multiple minutes! I would strongly recommend you take advantage of these awesome amenities.
The onsen rounded out our last day and we spent the rest of the night yapping by the fire. We saved the morning of check-out day to clean up the site and go to the cafe on-site to use some outlets for charging (my battery pack ran out of juice on day 2), enjoy a cortado, and buy some merch. I got an awesome Japanese style long-sleeve shirt. All in all, Snow Peak Campfield in Long Beach was a hidden gem on the western coast of Washington that I’d recommend to anybody looking for an upscale and relaxing glamping experience. You can try out premium gear before deciding to buy it and have a great time doing it with friends or family. Can’t wait til next time!
Our per-person cost for 14 people, 2 sites, including tarps, tents, sleeping pads, cooking stations, car rentals, and groceries ended up being about $300 for the 2 nights!
