Kitsap Memorial State Park — Attraction in Poulsbo

The park was great, the rangers not so much...

On 8/14/15 I called the 888-campout phone line asking about our sites. I stated that we were supposed to check into our sites that day but due to the thunder and rain storm, we would not be able to until the next morning. The person I talked to said that this would be OK as long as we checked in before the next day's check in time, so we didn't loose our sites. We arrived at 11:30 am and set up our sites. While checking into the site, my friend and fellow foster parent was yelled at by two park rangers. One park Ranger had initials of E.D. and the other we didn't see again. They said that she could not check in until 2:30. She tried to explain that the site was ours starting the day before. She was told that they get the sites for free and can't ever seem to go by the rules. I was at the park with some of the children since I had already set up. One of the kids came and told me that she was getting in trouble and I came to talk to him and check in as well. He no longer was at the site, but I found him at the little office.

I told him who I was and tried to show him my ID and foster care card. He said "oh, you're another on of "those" people". I said, "I am sorry, but what?" He said that we were foster parents and needed to go by the rules and check in when everyone else did. I told him that our names where on the sites an they were ours as of yesterday. He said something along the lines of.. see all those cars wanting to check in? I am getting call after call wanting to know whey they can't check in. I said that this wasn't my issue and these where our sites starting yesterday and that I had called in and let them know that we weren't coming in until today. I said that if he had an issue to call the main office and talk with someone about what the check in site rules are.

He didn't talk to us the remainder of the time, but I feel that he should be talked to about his issues with foster parents and to make sure that a camper is or isn't setting up before the correct time.

I have camped for several years and all over Washington State. We have never been treated this way.

This 'benefit' of taking our foster children on family outings is one of the only benefits we receive as foster parents and one of the only ways to take this many children...

We stayed here for two nights and it was overall a very lovely spot. It was a very short walk to the water, which had plenty of seashells laying all over the beach each and everyday. Even some hermit crabs would crawl around, as well as lots of other creatures in the ecosystem there.

The showers would either always have a long line, or be completely empty depending on the time of day you took a shower. The bathrooms were kept clean and nice. There were plenty of hiking trails to walk on as well in the park.

The tent spots had plenty of shade and privacy, however they were close together with only a couple of trees blocking each tent site from the next.

The cabins beds weren’t all that comfy and the blinds and screen were broken so bugs could get in very easily. Luckily though we didn’t see any bugs. The fire pits worked great when we cooked hot dogs and hamburgers, although I do recommend bringing some tinfoil or a grill brush if you wanna keep your food from getting char on it from the previous cookout.

The rv spots had great water pressure and had individual fences with picnic tables and plenty of space for each rv. The fire pits were the same as anywhere else in the park, so they worked great for cooking out. Most of the spots didn’t have any shade trees so it can get kind of hot in the afternoon if you don’t have air conditioning in your rv.

Everything was kept nice and clean and very organized. It was a short walk almost anywhere. The staff were a little bit pushy and made sure to double check that you paid for EVERYTHING. But they were very quick to help with anything that you may have questions for. The camp host was also very friendly, and said hi to me each time I walked past.

I would definitely love to stay here again the next time I’m through...

I've camped here and got married here and I'm so impressed. It's a state park so it's incredibly lovely and well kept. Getting married here was incredible. We had a 60 person wedding that ended right at their quiet hours and it was perfect. This is not a place to have a raging party. It's perfect if you love and respect state parks and want something budget friendly, beautiful, and low key. Getting married outside but under cover (because, ya know, pacific northwest rain) was gorgeous and hanging out in the log building at night was awesome. The park was clean and beautiful and was it great fun camping there afterwards. If you get married here, I highly suggest you stay overnight in the cabin next to the log pavilion. It's super cute and a nice place to shower and get ready. Pics included of the cabin since I know that was the hardest thing to find pictures of when I was researching this place.

Edit: other important details if you're looking into this as a wedding venue: most important thing is booking. When we did it, their policy was that they opened for booking at 6am on the first day of the month you want to book for the next year. So, for example, if you want to book for June 15th 2019 you have to be there in person on June 1st 2018. They won't do it over the phone or via email, no exceptions. My husband and my dad are amazing and camped outside the night before since I couldn't. I thought it might be overkill but lots of other couples camped out overnight too! It was the craziest part of the whole experience but everything after that was easy, breezey, lowkey. Our families helped cleanup and the rangers were there for any questions we had, but they mostly left us alone. We had a...