Fay Bainbridge Park

Great park along the water on Bainbridge Island. Though it’s at the opposite end of the the island from the ferry, it’s a pretty quick car drive. The park goes along the beach and has some nice views of the water, mountains, and parts of Seattle. Great place for a picnic. There is a ton of driftwood where you can sit and enjoy the view. Very pet friendlt as well.

Love the view… But better wear proper shoes… very rocky. meaning it’s not an all sand beach.

Beautiful little city park on Bainbridge Island. Our 35′ fifth wheel with 3 slide outs fit fine. First come first served, but we’re able to call ahead several times in route to make sure spaces were available. Mike was especially helpful and most appreciated. Camp hosts were equally as nice. Rated 4* because of lack of electricity. Great place overall!

Nothing but good things to say about this place. My kids love the pebbled playground as well as the beach. When the tide is out, it’s one of the best places on the island to explore. Plenty of Eagles to see and plenty of wind to fly a kite as well. Haven’t had the luxury of camping here since we live in the island anyhow, but it looks fun.

Beautiful place. Don’t camp here unless you like trailer parks. Definitely don’t take your kids unless you want them to hear vulgarity. Drunk, loud and total trash time here. This place is packed in like sardines. It seems to be known for packing 4 tents and a dozen people per site who shout and swear around their kids. Classy. Group chants of «red solo cup» chants at 1am, followed by slurred puking sounds at 3am. Multiple sites like this. Unrelated. The camp host doesn’t care. There’s a house that let’s their 3 dogs out at 5am to bark their heads off non stop.

Very nice little Park with Camping, Hiking, picnic tables, grilling pits, nice restrooms, Volleyball set-​up & Beach access to a gorgeous view of the Puget Sound. Lots of logs & various driftwood pieces to maneuver before actually getting to the Beach but gives it that cool scenic natural look. There is even some playground equipment and a picnic shelter on the lower part of the park near the beach.
I wondered why it was named Fay Bainbridge Park so looked it up and found out that Washington purchased the land for the park for $ 5,000 from the estate of Temple S. Fay in 1944. When purchased the Fay Estate wanted to make sure the name «Fay» was maintained, hence the name «Fay Bainbridge Park». Mr. Fay was a neurosurgeon who introduced the use of hypothermia in medical and surgical illnesses and actually taught for a bit at the University of Washington. Also a little interesting piece of History as you enter the park there is a display of a Bell donated by the Kitsap County Historical Society. It was brought to the area from San Francisco in 1883 by Jeremiah Farnham.
In 2011 the park was transferred by the state to the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park and Recreation District so you don’t need that Discover Pass here.

Stayed here last night. It was very family friendly! Not necessarily what my boyfriend and I were expecting… There were more private camp sites up the exit ramp that were cheaper and quiet, but we didn’t see them until we were leaving.
We had a good time and met a great couple that didn’t know about the top camps either. If we come back this way on our road trip we would definitely stay at one of the top camps instead of the bottom ones. But it was really nice.

My other half and I were in Bainbridge Island for the day and took to Unilocal to find somewhere to get our feet wet. We came across Fay Bainbridge State Park and decided to check it out. It was a partly cloudy early spring day and there were tons of logs leading up to the water.
I can’t resist water, so I immediately took off my sandals and walked around in the water. I couldn’t believe it, the water was actually warm! A bit murky and yucky, but it was definitely nice to walk amongst the little sea anemones and squirty things that get you when you least expect it.
We will definitely be back next time we venture out to Bainbridge Island!

I went camping here last summer. Great spot! I went to the beach, propped my feet up on some driftwood and read a book while looking out over the water at Seattle. Beautiful! There aren’t very many tent camping spots and you can’t reserve them ahead of time so saving yourself a spot needs some planning. Overall, a great little spot that’s just a ferry ride away from Seattle. I want to come back here soon!

So glad we found this park. This is a great beach space… perfect for flying kites! We had a great time walking along the beach, climbing on the logs (there are hundreds!), skipping rocks in the water, and looking at the Seattle skyline peeking above the trees!
They have two covered shelters with picnic tables, grills, and a fireplace. As well as a small playground for kids. Definitely looking forward to returning when the weather gets nice :)

I love to visit this beach park early in the morning. Sitting on one of the hundreds of logs at the waters edge just watching waves and looking toward Seattle.
There are slides and climbing toys and camping sites.

Good camping for the locals.
Our first time here was a midweek camping trip. We live on the island and camped Tues & Wed night. We arrived around 3pm and the lower sites were pretty full, loud, crammed together, and not tent friendly so we chose the upper camping area and we had the entire place to ourselves.
The biggest problem with all of the upper sites is that NONE of the are level and the sizes of the campsites are very inconsistent. We did not run into many blackberry bushes but the fruit trees around us were dropping fruit like crazy. You have to watch it, you may bet hit by falling fruit. Or in our case fruit being tossed down by a raccoon.
During our stay there was a concert down on the beach, which was a nice surprise. The music was mellow and entertaining. This was also a few days before Seafair so we got to see all of the Navy ships passing through the Sound, there were 7 large ships at one time in out view, it was amazing. Also the «Camp Host» came by our site to talk to us and welcome us to the park. They will even give you firewood if you need it. Now, I’ve never camped anywhere that had a Camp Host let alone a place that will provide firewood, I guess that is the way they camp on Bainbridge Island.
Now for the items on the down side.
1. This isn’t really a beachy place to camp. You really cant get into the water, it’s very rocky and filled with giant logs.
2. The porta potty at the upper sites was in terrible condition when we first arrived so we had to make the trip down the big hill for the bathrooms, not great if you have a 5 year old that has to go NOW! (They cleaned it out on Wed, then it was only us using it). They have two sets of flushables and showers at the bottom of the hill for all of the RV people, you know, the people with showers and toilets already.
3. The noise. There is a ««Quiet time» posted for after 10pm but everyone in the lower sites did not care to follow that. Loud kids screaming and running around, adults partying, and all that noise comes right up the hill and into your campsite. In addition to the loud campers you have to deal with and obscene amount of crows cawing during the day and some of the loudest Roosters and some other kind of screaming bird first thing in the morning.
4. Upper sites not level. You are hard pressed to find 1 spot out of the 10 they have up there that has the right spot for your tent so that you will not slide around inside all night. Depending on your tent size you could hit the jackpot.
5. Lower sites are not ideal for tent campers. They are very very close together with very little grass area for your tent or chairs. The gravel area right in the middle of the spot prevents tent set up on that area of the site. If you like to camp with people you don’t know and have them all up in your space, this area is for you.
I can’t imagine what this place is like on a weekend, but if you are a local and you don’t have to travel very far to get here, a mid week stay would be perfect.

One of my favorite places on the island. It’s a great place to relax and enjoy the fresh air and beautiful scenery of the Puget Sound. It’s also a great place to camp and have a picnic. There’s also an awesome fireplace/​oven that you can use at night and cook.

This park has it all — great views, nice beach with lots of interesting wood, great grilling areas (the old rusted thru grills have been replaced), good campsites. Best of all, it’s mostly undiscovered. This might not last, as it has just changed park systems — I think it’s a city park now. Best news — alcohol now allowed!
My crew enjoys swimming here when it’s extra sunny. This year that meant Easter. Swimming. In the ocean. I’m still impressed. I make sure to bring their ocean swim shoes so the rocks don’t hurt so much.
If you get here at just the right time, you can claim the extra comfy Adirondack wooden chairs. Otherwise, just pile all your crap in your baby stroller and push it right to the water’s edge. Aaaah. Plenty of driftwood to drap over.
Make sure you hit Mora’s Ice Cream on your way back home.

I used Unilocal to find a place to camp, and this time it failed me.
The scoop:
View: 3 (4 from the main/​day use area, from the camp sites, though, this is a 2 (Meh).)
Noise: 1 (Jesus Jones, I felt like I was at an airforce base inhabited by rowers, cocks, and children!)
Campsites: 2 (Not level, infested with brambles)
Bathrooms: 4 (Nice bathrooms, they flushed and even had a shower in one set of them)
Convenience: 4 (Oddly in a juxtaposition of an urban/​rural/​suburban island; a few miles away there is Winslow; super convenient on that end).
Alright, I must caveat my remarks here. If you are a camper, meaning someone who uses a tent and wood, this review is relevant to you. If your idea of camping is an RV, then this review is not for you.
Fay Bainbridge is an odd mix of stuff. The day use area, which is down by the water, has a panoramic view of the sound and the city across the sound. It is gorgeous, picturesque. And then the children start crying. And the boaters start blaring their loudspeakers.
The 10 campsites they have would be much better suited if you came as a group and took all of them. This place is weird in that you can’t reserve anything, so it is first-​come first-​served. That said, I went on a weekend in August and it wasn’t packed. The sites are situated in a basically common area, where you park in a lot and walk your gear in. The furthest spot away is only 50 meters or so, so it isn’t a hike or anything. But the ground isn’t level, so I ended up at the door of my tent in the morning, sliding all around all night; not a comfortable night’s sleep.
Additionally, the whole island is infested with blackberries. In mid-​to-​late August, this means you can pick blackberries and have them accompany your breakfast (a real plus), but it also means that if you’re taking down your tent and your pole passes the bounds of the site, you’re in danger of losing it.
The camping area also has zero separation between campsites for noise, meaning that the annoying neighbours I ended up with (with 4 children, toys that made a lot of noise, screaming, a guitar player who insisted on pointing his crappy music at us, rather than away from us) annoyed us to no end. We had no recourse; we just had to suffer through it. Of course, annoying neighbours aren’t the fault of the campground; but the set up is the fault of the campground. There’s simply no noise barriers nor privacy, unless you wanted a very tiny site hedged by holly and blackberries (which make for an interesting stumble to the bathroom in the dark at night [scraaaaaape! CRAP!]).
In the evening, after the children went to bed, our neighbours talked so loudly that we thought they were in our camp. Oh, and did I mention the fireworks? Apparently, Poulsbo was having a World War II re-​enactment, complete with fireworks and explosions.
The bathrooms are situated at the bottom of the steep hill for all the RVers (you know, people with toilets). Logistically, I don’t know how else this could be done; it makes sense for the landscape. But that means that 3am pee gets weighed pretty heavily against taking it in the loo.
From the campground area, we were isolated from the view, so it was like any other site. The slight incline I thought wouldn’t be much of a problem, but it was difficult to find a place to put up a tent. There was a cluster of ferns and blackberries in the middle of our site (#32) and all around us were ominous blackberries.
If I had better neighbours, I still would have been rudely awakened. There must be an airport near; all evening and even in the morning, propeller planes were flying overhead. At dawn, the roosters from a neighbouring house started crowing, competing in loudness for one another. It was terrible.
Since there is great boating in the day-​use area, a team of rowers got to the Sound at about 8:30 or 9:00 am… and then started with their bloody loudspeakers (stroke! stroke!). Between the children (not the fault of the camp), the roosters, the boaters, the EXPLOSIONS AND DYNAMITE, and the planes, there was no chance for sleeping in this place. Just plan to be up all night.
I would recommend that you visit this place, take your children and have them be loud on the jungle gym, annoy the campers out of it, bring your boats, use the day-​use area for picnics with your Hawai’ian-shirt-wearing-Boomer-friends, or set up your RV on one of their fantastically tiny RV parking spots, be a loud, respectless asshole, play John Mellencamp at your neighbours, light off fireworks, but whatever you do, don’t camp here and expect to get any rest.
It seems to me that those who use this area do not care about the campers, respect noise levels, or try in any way to see this as a nature preserve. It is definitely not the place to hang out, chill, have some beers with some friends, and meditate and be peaceful and commune with nature. It is noveau camping.

We love love LOVE this park!
Although I haven’t ventured far beyond the playground, and the fields next to it my daughter and I love visiting.
It’s clean, the bathrooms are decent (although, bring TP with you just in case!) and there are plenty of shady trees to lounge under while your kiddos play at the super cool playground.
This is our go to park for those summer evenings, after Hubby gets home and we want to enjoy being outside but also let our two year old get her energy out.

3.5 stars for the view and the nice little quiet state park, tucked away in a corner of an already quiet island. Honor system pay-​as-​you-​go with car camping sites, trailers, and tents. Clean and well cared for.
We couldn’t imagine a better view for any beach camping area. Just killer.
The beach was a bit rocky and full of timber. Nice place to just go and hang out, but watch out for the butter clams. Eat these bad boys and you’ll get Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP)!
3.5 stars for the view and the nice little quiet state park, tucked away in a corner of an already quiet island. Honor system pay-​as-​you-​go with car camping sites, trailers, and tents. Clean and well cared for.
We couldn’t imagine a better view for any beach camping area. Just killer.
The beach was a bit rocky and full of timber. Nice place to just go and hang out, but watch out for the butter clams. Eat these bad boys and you’ll get Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP)!

My first time on Bainbridge Island was capped by a jewel of a park on the north end.
I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to pay to play as with most of my home state Colorado state parks. The view is amazing! This is a very quiet location which I love. A great place to take a book or a woman on a sunny Washington day.
I would highly recommend this park to the person looking to get away without getting too far away.

A breathtaking view of how beautiful Washington really is.
I came here in hopes of camping and once I got a look at the area, realized that getting a camping spot here would be a major undertaking. Meaning it’s like waiting in line for front row tickets to the hottest concert in town. And with the lax rules in WA, don’t count on anyone giving up a spot easily. I’m sure there is some crafty way to get a spot here and I will update if I ever do get to camp here.
But even without the camping, wandering the area is worth it. I love the large drift logs, yes not wood, logs, that you have hurdle over to get to the water. It’s actually quite fun to hop and jump over them. Tall grasses waving the breeze, dogs playing, children laughing, sailboats in the distance. And to top it off, majestic Rainer in the background.
It makes you say, «Honey, we should move to Bainbridge.» Until you look around and realize, you would be way too far away from downtown Seattle, would probably grow to despise your yuppster neighbors, and never be able to afford a house you would want.
So don’t bother thinking that, just enjoy the view.

Beautiful beautiful beautiful. You’ll almost get lost trying to find this amazing little park/​campground but it’s so worth the trip. Gorgeous view of the Sound with a small little beach, clean restrooms, nice kid’s playground, shelters with picnic tables, and lots of blackberries bushes ready to be picked.