Kanaskat-Palmer State Park

We came here for a short hike along the river with our dogs. In total, it was about 3 miles. The trail was clean and overall it was a nice walk. There are a few areas of the trail with a slight incline but nothing we found strenuous. The foot traffic here was light and it seems the few people we passed by were the campers that were staying there. The park ranger here was very nice and kindly explained the trail and the best place to park. If you’re looking for a strenuous hike to work up a sweat, a long hike, or looking for spectacular views, I’d go elsewhere.

I stayed in a yurt for a weekend getaway. I have the say the yurt was amazing. It was very clean, and the beds were very comfortable. It even came with lighting and heating inside, which is great for the winter time. The site itself came with a fire pit, a picnic bench, and a coal pit for easier cooking. That bathrooms were also pretty clean.
The park has tons of beautiful trails and the river is wonderful. There’s lots of spaces to hang out and play. Would definitely recommend this park, especially since the drive is not too far from Seattle. Had a great time, would definitely come back.

This is a review for camping at Kanaskat-​Palmer.
We are not avid campers, and this was our first time camping with the kids, ages 2 and 5. We were with another family who are more seasoned campers and have three kids, ages 4 (twins) and 5.
Pros to this campground;
Close to Seattle, easy to get to.
~ Nicely wooded area, trees provided good shade, and our two sites (5 and 7) were next to each other and each had a nice drive-​through parking space. We (and more importantly, our kids) could go back and forth between our two sites without going into the road.
~ Nicely equipped and clean bathrooms with showers and flush toilets.
~ Friendly staff/​park ranger/​volunteers. There were frequent drive-​bys on their John Deere Gators, which was nice and made it feel like they were keeping a watchful eye on things and if there were a problem they were easily flagged down.
~ Convenient places to dump your garbage/​recycling
~ Lots of fresh water spigots nearby alongside the road. Great for getting water to wash dishes, kids, etc…
~ The nearby river was great. We were there during a heat wave in the 90’s, so a water spot to cool off in was a must. Apparently you can walk there, but with the kids in tow we opted to drive and park closer to the access point.
Cons
~ There are nearby train tracks. A train would come by a few times at day and night and toot its horn VERY loudly. We were only there 2 nights so I didn’t get a feel for whether there was any set schedule as to when the train would come by, but from what I saw, it was day and night.
~ The local fire station uses an air siren to summon volunteer firefighters. This can happen at any time of the day or night. It happened our first morning at 7:30 am and we didn’t know what it was. We seriously thought that maybe Mt. Rainier had erupted and we were about to be swallowed by lava. Had to ask the pay booth later that day what it was. It happened again that night around 10 pm, just after getting the kids to sleep. Aurgh! It is LOUD! Search the web for videos of a Fire Station Siren and you will hear it. This alone is nearly reason enough for us to not want to camp there again.
~ Specific to site #5 — Our tent pad was gravel. :-(Not nice round pea gravel, but sharp jagged broken bits of rock. Had I known I would have brought a heavy duty tarp to fold in half and put under our tent to lessen the impact. In looking at other sites in the loop, I did not see any others with gravel in the actual tent pad. Most others seemed to have packed dirt. The rest of our site also seemed freshly resurfaced with gravel whereas most of the others seemed to have more soil. It made for a painful surface for the kiddos to take a spill on, and nobody could walk around without shoes. And when my husband got up early in the morning to make coffee, all you would hear was the «crunch, crunch, crunch» of him walking around outside the tent.
In all, it was an OK camping experience and the kids still had fun. But for me, the noise factor between the train and the air siren is almost a dealbreaker, and the gravel surface is just something I wish I’d known because I feel like we could have been more prepared to make the accommodations more comfortable.

This state park is a treasure of the Pacific Northwest.
Tucked away in the small town of Ravensdale, which is just west of Maple Valley, you’ll find this park. The Green River travels through it, and the water is a lovely shade of green with bits of aquamarine and teal. It is really beautiful. I’ve seen people fishing and many people in their kayaks on the river.
I go here to hike through the many trails that go along the river and through the woods. I see new things every time I visit. I’ve seen deer and many small animals while hiking. There are easy, simple trails and then there are ones that are longer and steeper that I haven’t taken.
I’ve seen yurts here, and there are alot of campsites around. I haven’t investigated the fees to rent a space here yet but this would be a wonderful place to go. It is so far removed from the city and from anyone, really, and it’s just divine.
Near the main parking lot, there are BBQ grills and various picnic tables.
If you’re looking for a place to go to get away from the world for a day or a week’s vacation, this is a great place to visit.