Saltwater State Park Campground

Closed — The campground is closed due to flooding and erosion impacts. The park is reevaluating camping operations, with no reopening date announced. Day use areas remain open year-round from 8:00 a.m. to dusk.

About

Located in Des Moines, halfway between Seattle and Tacoma, Saltwater State Park offers 137 acres of marine recreation with 1,445 feet of Puget Sound shoreline. The park features a sandy swimming beach perfect for wading, building sandcastles, and exploring tide pools teeming with marine life. The forested upland area includes cool green trails along bubbling McSorley Creek, where visitors can observe seasonal salmon spawning. The park's standout feature is its underwater artificial reef, the only one in the Washington State Parks system. Scuba divers explore a thriving underwater world filled with sea stars, urchins, anemones, scallops, rockfish, and ling cod growing up to five feet long. Sea kayaking and paddleboarding are popular in this relatively calm section of the sound. Day use amenities include two reservable picnic shelters and 147 unsheltered picnic tables scattered throughout the park, some along the sunny beach and others shaded along the creek. A seasonal snack shack operates from Memorial Day through Labor Day and on spring/fall weekends. The park is open year-round from 8:00 a.m. to dusk and requires a Washington Discover Pass. Note that alcohol is prohibited throughout the park, and wood fires are not allowed at any time.

Directions

From I-5, take exit 149 for Kent-Des Moines Hwy (WA-516) and head west. Turn left onto Marine View Dr S, then right onto S 252nd St. The park entrance is one block on the left.

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