Schafer State Park

I go here to read every once in a while. Small, quiet park with a cool little stream. Nothing spectacular, just a nice park.

this park was interesting. we did not get to walk the trails as everything was blocked off. but my first impression was that something was dead in the water. the whole place smelled off. maybe it was because it was raining or it was latter in thee ay and i was losing light. but I am not sure if i will visit this place again.

I was touring the Olympic Peninsula via bicycle and needed a place to stay on the last leg of my journey. Because I only had a debit card and no cash, the host let me stay for free. In addition, she was very helpful with directions and choosing a campsite.
If you are the outdoorsy type of camper, do not be turned off by the large RV circle at the entrance. Take a stroll around to the well-​hidden primitive/​hiker-​biker sites and you will be surrounded by a peaceful stillness and silence!
I ended up picking a scenic river rock campsite next to a stream, which was sadly algae infested from irrigation or the like. It still happened to be quite serene.
The facilities were filled with a few mosquitos here and there, which was expected, but the general aura gave off a dirty feeling. The shower also happened to be free. The water that came from the fountain had a funky dirty taste to it.
Overall, I’d be surprised if you came to Schafer searching for a fulfilling camping experience. But if you need a unique roadside experience along a cross country journey or at the end of a long day, make sure to stop by with a tent in hand.

A solid 3 star camping experience. My husband and I planned this camping trip on short notice and didn’t want to drive too far from Seattle. Schafer was one of the only campgrounds that had spots open and was reasonably close. We had also never camped here before.
The park is pretty much in the middle of the woods in Elma. You won’t get any cell reception (kinda nice for a weekend actually) and there isn’t really a grocery store or gas station nearby. The campground is pretty small, but I’d say we had a decent amount of privacy at our site (#28). Some of the sites are on the river so I’d recommend snagging one of those if you can. One thing I didn’t like about this park is that they had a lot of RV hookups. I know that’s how some people roll but I hate hearing generators when I’m camping. There were definitely more RV sites than tent sites. The bathrooms are pretty small, but the shower looked nice.
As far as activities, there isn’t too much to do here unless you are fishing. There were a couple of hiking trails in the park. There is one across the river from the recreational area. It was cool, but short. There is also another in the recreational area, but that one is really short and the majority of the trees were clear cut.
Schafer isn’t going to make my short list for favorite state parks, but you could do worse.

This area would probably be great for grillin’ and chillin’. A lot of the parking lot was closed due to the off-​season, I guess and the public restrooms were closed as well. The area is really muddy too, so watch your shoes and tires. It is also close to a very rapidly moving river with no fence, so really watch your kids next to the water. Seriously! I’m actually quite surprised that there wasn’t any flooding since the water is so close but I went on the rare Washington day that it wasn’t rainy. The water is super crystal clear though. It would probably be good for minor wading in the water or if you have strong legs or are an avid swimmer, good for swimming. You do need the discovery pass for this park but they do have a pay per day use station just as you enter the park. It was very nice to drive through and there is a «ranger» station type thing in the park too in case you need information about the park.