"Open year-round" is the single most misleading phrase in Washington camping. A campground can be open, reservable, and charging you a hookup rate while the water to your loop has been shut off since November 1. You arrive with an empty fresh tank, find a capped spigot, and spend the weekend dry camping at full price.
This is not an occasional mix-up. It is the documented default across the state park system, and Washington State Parks publishes it park by park — it is just buried in a schedule almost nobody reads before booking.
So this guide answers the question RV travelers are actually asking when they search for a park open year-round: not "is the gate unlocked," but "can I hook up when I get there." We run 22 RV sites in Easton that don't close, so weigh our entry accordingly.
"Open" and "water on" are two different questions
Washington State Parks states the situation plainly on its winter schedule: most parks stay open all year but change operations in winter, and "parks with campgrounds may close some sites in the winter, or turn off water supply to parts of the park."
That second clause is the one that matters to an RV. Reading through the state's own off-season reservable campsites list, the pattern is consistent: a loop stays open for reservations, and the water goes off around November 1 and comes back around April 1. A handful of parks keep a single winter spigot running somewhere — usually at the dump station or a restroom — which is fine for jugging drinking water and useless for filling a 60-gallon tank in freezing weather.
Before you book anything between November and March, ask the park two questions in this order: is my loop open, and is the water on at the site or only at the dump station.
The parks that keep water on
These are the state parks that stay reservable in the off-season and keep water running, per the state's off-season list. This is the short list, and it's short for a reason.
- Beacon Rock State Park, Skamania — the strongest option for an RV. Woodard Creek campground (sites R1–R5, A and B) is reservable year-round with water available at the RV sites. The park lists Woodard Creek as 2 standard sites and 5 full hookup sites, "accommodating RVs and combinations of 40 feet or less in length and no taller than 12 feet and 9 inches." Note that height limit — it is unusual to see one published, and five full-hookup sites statewide is not a lot of inventory.
- Millersylvania State Park, Olympia — sites 1–7 and 226–248 are open all year. Water is turned off roughly November 1 to March 31 for the park generally, but hookup sites retain water, which is the specific exception RV travelers want.
- Paradise Point State Park, Ridgefield — sites 44–68 and 70–79 close November 1 to March 15, but for the loops that stay open the state notes plainly that "water will remain on."
- Battle Ground Lake State Park, Battle Ground — sites 36–60, the group camp, and the equestrian camp close November 1 to March 15; water stays on year-round in what remains.
- Belfair State Park, Belfair — the Tree Loop closes September 15 to May 15; water stays on year-round in the rest, though it may shut down during a hard freeze.
- Grayland Beach State Park, Grayland — some sites go first-come, first-served November through April because of possible flooding, but all other campsites and yurts are available all year and the water stays on.
- Penrose Point State Park, Lakebay — sites 1–21 and 52 are open all year with lower restrooms open year-round; water remains on in the open loops "unless temperatures drop below freezing."
Three of those seven are in the southwest corner of the state and two are on Puget Sound. If you are looking for a year-round hookup site in the Cascades, that absence is the story.
The parks that stay open and turn the water off
These are open and reservable in winter, and you should plan on arriving with a full fresh tank:
- Kanaskat-Palmer, Ravensdale — water off November 1 to April 1, winter supply near the dump station and site 31
- Dash Point, Federal Way — upper loop closed September 15 to May 15; water off from mid-November, weather depending
- Deception Pass, Oak Harbor — Quarry Pond is reservable all year, but water in the campground is turned off in mid-November
- Camano Island — Lower Loop takes reservations all year; water off November 1 to April 1, winter supply at campsite #2
- Fort Worden, Port Townsend — water off November 1 to March 15, winter supply at the Beach Campground
- Scenic Beach, Seabeck — upper loop sites 26–50 closed November 1 to March 31; water off November 1 to March 1, winter supply at the dump station
- Twanoh, Union — upper campground closed September 16 to May 15; water off November 1 to April 1, winter supply in the lower campground
- Jarrell Cove, Shelton — sites 1–4, 8–11 and 15–17 reservable all year, and water is off October through April with no winter supply at all
Worth flagging for anyone who read our RV camping near Seattle guide: Kanaskat-Palmer appears there as one of the metro-area options open in February, and it is. But the water is off for five months of that window. Open, yes. Hooked up, no.
Winter changes the price and the booking rules
Two things move in your favor once the season turns.
The rate drops a full tier. Per the state parks fee schedule, winter rates — November through March — run $23 for a standard site, $35 partial utility, and $41 full utility, against peak-season rates of $31–43, $41–51, and $46–56. Our guide to RV resorts in Washington breaks the full tier structure down alongside the reservation fees.
Availability stops being the problem. The nine-month booking scramble that defines a Washington summer simply doesn't apply in January. Many campgrounds that stay open switch to first-come, first-served in the off-season, which is why the state maintains a separate list of the parks that do still take winter reservations — if a park isn't on that list, don't assume you can book it.
The catch is that "off-season" and "winter" are not the same window everywhere. Loop closures start as early as September 15 at some parks and run as late as May 15. Check the specific loop, not the park.
The I-90 corridor is the actual gap
Everything above is coastal, southwestern, or Puget Sound. Along I-90 between North Bend and Ellensburg — the corridor most Seattle-area RV travelers actually drive — the public inventory closes almost entirely:
- Lake Easton State Park's campground is closed November 1 through May 1
- Tinkham, Denny Creek, and Kachess are national forest campgrounds running roughly May to September, with no hookups even in season
That is the gap, and it is why this page exists rather than being a paragraph in another one. For about half the year there is effectively no public hookup camping in the mountains between Seattle and Ellensburg.
Where we fit
Our property sits at I-90 Exit 63 in Easton and does not close. 22 back-in sites, 30/50-amp electric and water at every site, a dump station on the property, no sewer at individual sites, most sites taking rigs up to 40 feet — call 425-622-2790 if you're longer. Shared facilities are 3 bathrooms and 2 full-size showers.
The honest version of the winter pitch: the water is on, the sites are available, and midweek in January you will have most of the place to yourself. What you are not getting is summer. The lakes ice at the edges, so the kayaks, canoes, paddle boards, and paddle boats come out of service and the fishing slows down. If you want a heated indoor pool, book a private park in the metro instead. If you want somewhere with hookups in the mountains in February, the list is genuinely short and we are on it.
Not committed to towing through a mountain winter? Every unit on the property is hard-sided and heated — the winter cabin rentals page covers the per-unit heat and bathroom details.
Practical notes for a Washington winter in an RV
- Arrive with a full fresh tank between November and April, even at a park listed as open. Assume the spigot is capped until the park tells you otherwise.
- A winter water supply at the dump station is not a hookup. It means jugs.
- Ask about the specific loop, not the park. Closures are published by site number for a reason.
- Crossing Snoqualmie Pass while heavy? WSDOT requires vehicles over 10,000 pounds to carry at least two extra tire chains, and from November 1 to April 1 chains must be carried at all times regardless of conditions. A three-quarter-ton truck under a fifth wheel clears that threshold easily.
- East-side parks are reachable without the pass from Ellensburg, Yakima, and Spokane — useful when avalanche control closes the summit.
The short version
- Best year-round full hookup in the state park system: Beacon Rock, Woodard Creek — 5 sites, 40 feet, 12'9" height limit
- Best year-round hookup water on Puget Sound: Millersylvania, where hookup sites keep water
- Open but dry, November to April: Kanaskat-Palmer, Dash Point, Deception Pass, Camano Island, Fort Worden, Scenic Beach, Twanoh, Jarrell Cove
- Worst case for water: Jarrell Cove — off October through April with no winter supply
- Cheapest time to go: November through March, a full fee tier below summer
- The Cascades gap: no public hookup camping on I-90 between Seattle and Ellensburg from November to May
Planning a trip in the other direction on the calendar? Our RV camping near Seattle guide sorts the corridor by rig length and hookup class, and the tent camping side of our property runs on the same seasons.
Conditions as of September 2026
Loop closure dates, water shutoff windows, and site numbers above were taken from Washington State Parks' published winter schedule and off-season reservable campsites list on the date of this post. State Parks revises both seasonally, and freeze events can close water early at parks that normally keep it on. Confirm with the individual park before you tow.