Odlin Park

It’s hard to imagine a better location for athletic self-sufficient campers than Odlin County Park. There is a white sand beach for swimming or kayaking, miles of hiking trails, and a series of bike routes ranging from a few miles to more than thirty miles. Lopez Village is a few miles away, has public showers, wood fired pizza and music some nights. There are vault toilets, water taps and recycling trash receptacles but no electric or water hookups or dump station. It’s a mile from the ferry, quiet and very peaceful. Cell service is marginal; no WiFi. We’ll be back for an extended stay.

While making a day trip to Lopez Island we decided to stop by Odlin Park to check out the camping opportunities. What a great little waterfront campground this is! Odlin Park is operated by San Juan County and encompasses 80 acres with 31 campsites (10 waterfront), a group campsite (8 sites), mooring buoys, vault toilets, potable water, baseball field, kayak/canoe launch site, boat trailer parking, and hiking trails. The park is only 1 mile from the ferry dock and 3 miles from Lopez Village. There is no dump station nor electrical or water hookups.

Bringing a large motorhome or a vehicle/trailer combo to the islands can be an expensive proposition (think $200 round trip!), so this campground is most suitable for those in tents, truck campers, camper vans or small motorhomes. That said we saw a hanfull of sites that would accommodate our 17' trailer just fine. The waterfront sites are of course the primo ones. With lodging being both scarce and expensive on Lopez, it might pencil out to bring a vehicle/trailer if you wanted to spend a week or more in the islands. Inter-island ferries can take you to the other islands for day trips.

On the day we visited in late May, there were only two campsites occupied, both waterfront sites of curse. The waterfront sites are spacious but have little visual privacy between them. The non-waterfront sites appeared to be a little smaller, but are more private. If you want to camp here during the summer months, I'd highly recommend making a reservation. Think spring or fall for a peaceful experience.