HOWARD MILLER STEELHEAD PARK, ROCKPORT, WA

Our Opinion: Rave, if you don‘t mind partial hookups.

Date of Stay: July 13-17, 2011

Weather During Stay:  Cool and damp.  Frequent rain, showers or downpours.  Limited sunshine.  Photos were taken during the short periods of sunshine.

Site Description:   Forty-five or so RV sites in a beautiful green park adjacent to the Skagit River.  Thirty of the sites are arranged in circular groups of ten, like spokes on a wheel, on mostly level graveled pads, with large expenses of grass surrounding each circle.  Other sites (paved) are near the river, including the 7 pull-through sites.  Most sites are suitable for big rigs.

All the RV sites have at least 30 amps and water; sites 40-49 have 50 amps as well as 30 amps.  All sites have a substantial picnic table and a fire ring. 

Two restrooms with showers; dump station; separate tent sites alongside the river; a covered pavilion for groups; a couple camping shelters that look like they are used by bicyclers; a boat launch area; a day use area with interesting historic information.

Rate: $26/night for 30 amps; $28/night for 50 amps. 

Phone/radio/TV: Good Verizon signal for phones and aircard.   Roof mounted satellite TV dish will work in most sites, though perhaps not those closest to the river.  We didn’t try the air antenna.  No local NPR station.  No park-provided WiFi.   

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain:  BEAUTIFUL park, extremely well maintained, 240 feet elevation.  Though most of the countryside around here is thickly forested, the park has been cleared - very welcome in the drizzly weather we encountered.  Lots of grass, lots of planted deciduous trees, with evergreen forest borders.  Views are of other rigs, grass, trees… and the river if you have one of the adjacent sites.

Lighting/Noise: Very quiet and dark at night.  Most of the park is unlit or has low lighting; lights on the restrooms are on all night long. 

Favorite Sites: Any of the sites in the circles (20-49), big, level gravel sites.  Sites 8 and 10 are our favorites of the riverside sites.  16-19 were the least appealing to us (on sloped grass), can be difficult to access and are the last to fill.

Hiking/Walking:  Great walking west of the park on a mowed grass trail through a wild area.  You can walk for miles from the park (trailhead well marked on the west end).

Comments: Howard Miller Steelhead County Park is a beautiful park in a very small town.  Reservations RECOMMENDED if you want to stay on a weekend - two rallies were going on over the weekend we were here, though parking was wide open during the week.  Park staff is particularly helpful; knowing we wanted to stay over the weekend, they kept us in the loop for cancellations.  Though we had to move to another site, we were able to stay.  We found this to be a good, lower elevation campground to explore North Cascades National Park.