Schafer State Park — Attraction in Aberdeen

Beautiful Campground with Great Amenities & Wildlife ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We had a wonderful stay over the Fourth of July weekend! The campground is very nice, with brand-new restrooms and FREE hot showers that were clean and well-maintained. There was WiFi access near the showers/rest area. We camped at tent site #15 on the RV side, which was a beautiful, spacious, and clean spot right next to the river and trails. The bathrooms and showers were only a short 2–3 minute walk away, which was super convenient.

Check-in was at 2:30 PM and checkout at 1 PM, if I remember correctly. We didn’t reserve ahead of time and were lucky enough to get a first come first serve site. We still had to wait until 2:30 PM to secure it though which was a bummer for us. There were at least 6 other sites empty which is a good sign for us last minute campers lol.

The park ranger was absolutely amazing—super helpful and kind, which made our experience even better.

As for downsides: The highway runs near the newer RV/cabin side, which took away a bit from the “deep in the woods” feeling. Luckily it wasn’t that busy. The RV/cabin area, while gorgeous and well-kept, didn’t have much tree coverage. It felt more like a luxury/glamping experience than a rustic one—which might be a pro or con depending on your preference. For us, it was in the middle.

Despite that, we’re already planning to come back with the whole family! Next time, we’ll likely stay on the older side of the campground, which is farther from the road and offers much more privacy thanks to all the large trees and shrubs.

The river was crystal clear and very shallow, which could be a big plus if you have young kids.

We loved the wildlife! During our stay, we spotted deer, chipmunks, birds, a little mouse, a garden snake, a bunny, butterflies—and even a freshwater seal! We also heard frogs and owls at night, which was such a peaceful bonus. Oh! Also, one morning we found a rabbit foot I believe, near our fire pit that a black crow (we assume) dropped. lol

You can buy firewood at the check-in center for a reasonable price, and if you forget anything, there’s a small town just 20 minutes away.

All in all, we had an amazing 4-day getaway and highly recommend this campground. Definitely a 5-star experience for us!

**P.S. Attached are some photos of site number 56 from the old campground side, which we loved but was taken. We also added photos of the cabins. And a waterfall we went to see! It was a bit of a drive (about 45 minutes) but it’s sooooo worth the drive! I forgot what it was called but it was near the coho campground so just type in waterfalls...

We stayed and camped here for 4 nights total leading up to the 4th of July. The park was mostly empty when we were there and overall was not too noisy. Most of the noise were children playing around during the day but most got very quiet once dark.

The park is nice and well kept, this is a newer section that I stayed at. They do have an older side that is a bit more rugged and off grid. The new side spots have power and water. They do provide a sewer dump station which is out off the street. The power hookups had both 30 and 50 amp and it had 2 normal 120 plugs which is what I used to run things. Most of the sites are decent size, not all of them are leveled though, the one I was in was a bit steep and the one next to me even steeper and they had a trailer they had to fight to level. Some of the sites are easy pull thrus but only a few. I noticed at least one ADA site that also has concrete around the pit for those with disabilities. They also had several first come first serve sites.

The new side also has a brand new bathroom which is pretty nice and it has multiple bathrooms multiple showers available all newer and upgraded. I am missing those as I am in the grayland state park now where nothing is very new and there seems to always be a line to use one of 2 toilets in the loop.

The park is along the river and you can get to it very easy with a couple of trails they have. There is also a trail you can enjoy that goes along the river between it and the campground that is very green.

As for staying connected to the world at this park.... you cant unless you bring Starlink, I was able to get pretty decent speeds with my starlink but it can be a challenge depending which site you get and how many trees are in line of site. I was in 2 different sites during my stay and one was easier than the other. None of the cellular networks were working from what I was able to see, T-Mobile was a dud for sure with SOS the whole time, the park wifi allows you to load a page or two for checkin but nothing other than that if you can even get it to connect.

Overall it was a pleasant stay and a campground I would possibly consider again in the future. Its a bit more remote for those who need to...

We stayed here last night of a 10 day camping trip. We reserved a site on-line the week before so the selection of sites were some what limited. We selected #19 which was a large site with lots of shade and a trial that lead to the rivers bank, not really anywhere to sit along the bank or play in the water from this trail, but it was still nice to walk to the river from the campsite. The main campground in the parking lot area has an area to sit by the river, the only problem is that you feel like you are intruding on someones camp area even though these sites are about 20ft back. We opted to walk across the street to the park area where you can sit on a nice sandy beach and wade in the river, it would even be a great place to put a small raft in and float back down to the campground. We don't have little ones anymore so I am not sure if there was a playground or not.

We have a camper so no need for a tent, but there would be plenty of room in this site to put one up and then some. the ground is pretty rocky so a blow up mattress would be good if tenting. this site was a little more secluded than the others seem to be and with only one other campsite next to us, it was pretty private. The other sites in the front of the campground are all pretty much open space, no tree or shrubs for privacy. I think the best sites for privacy are 19, 20, 21 and 22

The restroom was small with one bathroom and one shower (.50 for 3 or 5 min ? ) not sure if there was electrical plug-ins for drying you hair or not, but they seems to be clean for a public bathroom.

The host at the time we stayed here was one of the best camp host I think we have ever encountered, friendly and very helpful with information, meet us just as we drove in to the campground to welcome us, VERY FRIENDLY!!!

We would...