We headed to Oceana Thousand Trails in Ocean City, Washington, from Chehalis Thousand Trails. Initially we planned to explore the Olympic Peninsula, but my vertigo came back with a vengeance and I was as close to bed bound as one could be without actually being immobile. Luckily, the beach was only a few hundred yards down a trail leading from the back of the campground, so my teens enjoyed going down there as a substitute for our plans to explore.
Connectivity
This is the first question everyone asks about Thousand Trails campgrounds so I’ll just give it its own heading. Starlink is viable at approximately 85% of the sites at Oceana, and speeds are good. We averaged over 100 down and 7-10 up. T Mobile is 1 bar and inconsistent at providing even that.
EV Considerations
There are superchargers all over the Oympic peninsula, so getting to where you want to go in a Tesla isn’t an issue. The closest supercharger is in Aberdeen, WA, about 16 miles away, and the stalls are all nose-in stalls, which is perfect if you’re towing a camper or have a large bike rack.
We charge from a custom setup on our rig, but no one at Oceana asked about it or tried to stop us from charging from it. This seems to be the attitude at many Thousand Trails in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s greatly appreciated.
The Good
- The bathrooms are immaculate. The only downside is that there is no shower chair or fold down seat for those of us with disabilities.
- Landscaping is also well done. All sites could use a bit more gravel, but they’re level so it’s okay. I wouldn’t want to be in some of the sites in heavy rain, but the overwhelming majority of sites are fine.
- The bridge over the creek is worrisome at first sight, but on closer inspection it is concrete under the boards and more than able to handle any rig that wishes to cross it.
- The beach is a reasonable walk away although some parts are treacherous.
- Starlink works well here. Very good speeds but it doesn’t point north. Everyone was pointing in some variation of a southerly direction.
- Gateway to everything you want to see in Olympic peninsula while still being close enough to Seattle for day trips there.
- Lots of options nearby for things to do even with little kids.
The Bad
- Our one interaction with staff was quite rude. Perhaps this older gentleman was having a bad day or maybe they aren’t cut out for customer service. It put a bit of a bad taste in our mouth. He claimed our rig was too large for the sewer sites up front but then put toy haulers that were even longer in those spots. It seemed to irritate him that we used online check-in.
- The sites are NARROW, especially the pull throughs. The pull through sites up front are not going to be conducive to putting slides out if you have neighbors.
- Only a handful of sewer sites, and only 1 or 2 could fit a big rig.
- All sites are 30 amp.
- Surrounding area has a lot of yards that could double as salvage yards.
The Ugly
- The electrical pedestals were poorly maintained at a level that shocked us. I own a mobile RV tech business and we are fulltimers. We’ve seen a lot. This was excessive.
- It took us 3 tries to get a site with electricity we considered safe. Not perfect, mind you, just a reasonably low chance of fire. The first pedestal the 30 amp outlet had a weird white substance coming out of the holes in the outlet. The second Dean checked with his meter and it had issues that worried him. Finally the 3rd site was workable.
- While looking for sites Nadine and I walked the park checking pedestals. In the pullthrough section we found a couple of outlets that looked like they had been chewed by animals.
- Also in the pull through section, we found one of the pedestals was rusted through the top, which would allow water directly into the box. When we tried to lift the lid, the right side of the lid broke. (Yes, we reported all of this on our card.) If I were managing this park I would redirect a good portion of the funds spent on fancy landscaping to electrical infrastructure.
- The power went out multiple times, usually only for a minute or two. Our solar caught it and we barely noticed it, but neighbors without backup systems did notice and complain.
- The dump station broke multiple times while we were here. Thankfully they blocked off a couple of sewer sites up front to use while they figure that out.
Conclusion
Oceana Thousand Trails has the potential to be a hidden gem on the Olympic peninsula, but deferred maintenance on electrical and dump station infrastructure keep it from being a top tier choice. The biggest thing it has going for it is its location and the easy beach access. It also is not subject to high use restrictions so is a good reservation placeholder when you already have 2 high use reservations on the books. Make the reservation but be sure you have a quality EMS/surge for your rig before you arrive. Honestly I could write this about any Thousand Trails campground but it goes double at Oceana Thousand Trails.