User reviews
August 2019
Overall rating
1.6
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
1.0
Amenities/Facilities
1.0
Value
1.0
Overall Experience
1.0
I have been dreading writing this review because I once so loved this campground. Me and my family would come here for a whole month during the summer and appreciated the $480 monthly rate. But this year the price for the same site and amenities was doubled! $960 for a month. It seemed we weren’t the only ones annoyed, as half the campground was empty at any given time. The rv park may be making more money but less people are using the campground, so they are doing it for profit and less as a benefit to service members. We won’t be coming back.
May 20-29 2019
(Updated: June 01, 2019)
Overall rating
2.7
Location
4.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
2.0
Amenities/Facilities
2.0
Value
2.0
Overall Experience
3.0
They have raised the price on their 50A FHU sites from $16 to $28 a night. Which is $2 a night less than their neighbor, about 1 mile away at JBLM. However, JBLM has much more space between sites, they are paved sites instead of dirt and they include cable TV. The sites at the Camp Murray campground are not maintained. The entire arrival is completely self-service, the hosts did not assist us when we arrived. We watched numerous arrivals and each wandered around trying to determine where to go and what site is theirs. We watched people depart and no one came to the site and raked the limbs or pines cones, took any trash away, nor cleaned the picnic tables. Nothing. The host mowed one day while we were there, The assistant host walked her dog and was friendly enough. Not certain who is responsible for the site maintenance but during our stay it was not happening. If you are going to charge more, I believe they need to raise their standards a bit and take a bit of pride in the maintenance of the sites.
10-17 June 2011
(Updated: June 20, 2011)
Overall rating
4.9
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
5.0
Amenities/Facilities
4.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
5.0
Very quiet park with decent space to park your rig. Got reservations for two campers with just a days notice, we scheduled for 5 days but extended it to seven. We had sites that backed up to the water and they had 30 amp service which worked well enough for our fifth wheel and for the travel trailer with us. The view of the lake was beautiful as was the view of the four eagles flying by constantly and diving in for fish occasionally. There are a number of semi-permanent residents but they were all friendly and courtesy. The rate is $20 per night which I considered good for a full hook-up and the base security seems to do an excellent job. A large number of satellite receivers are available for Dish and Direct TV users so the lack of cable is not a major issue for most. Our cell/wifi card worked well also, Sprint & Verizon. Getting to the combined base of McCord/Lewis is not a problem and they have all the things you would expect from a large base. There are a couple of casinos nearby as well as the town of Lakewood and large city of Tacoma and Seattle. Overall this is a really nice CG and the camp host takes great pride in its' upkeep. Bathrooms, although not large, were very well cleaned and in good shape maintenance wise. I would definitely stay here again if in the area and would recommend it to anyone.
June 1 thru July 1, 2021
(Updated: July 06, 2021)
Overall rating
4.2
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
4.0
Amenities/Facilities
4.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
4.0
Very nice park but some spots near the lake are hard to get into with parking tight especially on weekends. No maps or information given on camp or area nearby. Everything was handled via the phone & e-mail. I was at spot B08 and it was fairly shady but no shade after 3 pm even with awning down as sun goes down directly across the lake so shade is behind trailer. Lot of full timers there who move around to available spots but never seem to really leave. Laundry is limited to 2 washers & dryers at $1.00 per wash & $.75 for dryer. Pretty quiet during the week except if Army is doing water training. Not much out main gate but easy access to I-5 (Exit 122A)and Madigan Gate. Once on Lewis-McChord Google maps will try to take you to housing gate at Exit 124 which was closed the whole time I was there. No Exit 123 anymore - now Exit 122B. Big rigs over 30 ft would do best to use row C. Price $25 a night so $750/$775 for a month.
June 7, 2016
Overall rating
3.0
Location
3.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
3.0
Amenities/Facilities
2.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
3.0
I will begin with a note about the gate. The directions on this site just say go through the gate right off of 5 however that gate is only open Mon-Fri and closes at 4. You must still Exit at 122 and go North on Berkley Street and go past the commercial gate 2 blocks until you get to Portland Avenue through the traffic circle to the other gate. Then once we got to the camp ground we never saw a camp host and never were told the codes to the bathrooms. We finally asked another camper the code to the bathrooms and the women shower smelled like feces. The lake was beautiful however I would not recommend this campground.
July 16-July 30 2017
Overall rating
4.0
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
3.0
Amenities/Facilities
3.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
4.0
Sadly Murray too now has suffered after the crackdown on squatters/homesteaders of both campgrounds at JBLM...now it's affected Murray :( 14 day stay limit now, then you must vacate and not return for two weeks...still no tent camping beginning NOV-End of march. These two rules are strictly enforced summer season now, no special people getting over staying longer/squatting-homesteading as I watched my many former summer seasonal neighbors constantly playing musical chairs with their RVs between McCord, Lewis and Murray campgrounds during my first visit back in three yrs since I moved to Florida. Ed the campground host still there, he's summer seasonal type whom lives in Hawaii and teaches scuba in winter, funny I left camp Murray after one summer season and lived Hawaii that winter and at the Veterans Day luau @ Hale Koa I saw ed, he was there... One of the squatter/homesteaders took over the asst host job so she doesn't have to rotate out now and she lost her approachable essence...takes the job way too serious... very nice place on water but sadly on fast side of American lake...Lewis campground about 1 mile west on same shoreline as Murray but around a choke point which separates American lake into two halves is, right where Lewis north forts American lake beach/park is that you'll see at 10oclock direction if you're lookIn at american lake from camp Murray. Murray is on the fast side of American lake so it's a lot noisier in comparison to Lewis area of American lake unless the special forces/2-75 ranger battalion are doing helicopter insertion/recovery training in the Lewis side of American lake where they fly in to water level inserting or extracting our warriors.. This busy watercraft thing on the Murray side/fast side of American lake is especially true on a sunny weekend day when boaters towing tubes, skiers, fisherman and the occasional kayaker or paddle board fill up the lake and holiday weekends kinda scary on the fast side (Murray shores on American lake) when you see busy days.. Rental water toys can be acquired at adventure center at ft Lewis on American lake...kayaks and paddle boards easily paddled to camp Murray campground from ft Lewis adventure center via waters shoreline...paddle across lake to north fort Lewis beach swimming area park, from there easy walk to shoppette, gym or warrior zone essentially avoiding existing out camp Murray gate and back into north fort Lewis gates which is faster than bicycle ride around.....surprisingly this is common and not a security issue as you'll see boats and people coming & going ashore at camp Murray dock/boat landing... Yrs before when I was a regular seasonal summer squatter here, there were jerks from civilian side of American lake that would do illegal dragboat races...fire up their 454powered rocket boats and go flying full roar skipping across the lake in the middle of the night....glad to see that ended! Ammeities on this website say swimming but absolutely no swimming at shores of camp Murray in American lake is authorized... Very serious risk to humans as too much boat traffic and or the opportunity of random boat traffic so swimming is seriously dangerous around dock/shores of American lake but you'll prolly catch some veterans dependant wife challenging regulations saying that's a dumb rule and she's gonna let her kids/grandkids swim there anyways... Campground has a party/group shelter and has unit functions/parties and when they do, the already limited bathrooms will be excessively busy as well as the screaming kids runnng around obnoxious/careless/irresponsibly so drive slow and be vigilant... Bout a mile & 1/2 out the gate to any stores/anythin other than coffee shop at camp Murray campground office unlike Lewis which has so much more to do of which all is bicycle rideable to everything and very much more dependant/kid friendly...Murray isn't very child friendly, no playground, jungle gym etc...lots of trails to walk but unattended children isn't an authorized option either... my experiance has been campers with kids at camp Murray dont seemingly enjoy the place (in comparison to Lewis or McCord) due to its lack of activities and also to kids it's boring seclusion with nothing to do for them unlike retired veteran/empty nesters whom project a look of happiness and content in murrays simplistic setting of nothing to do but sit and read a book or stare at the lake listening to Rush Limbaugh while visiting with other former war fighters...
16 - 17 Jul 2018
Overall rating
4.9
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
5.0
Amenities/Facilities
4.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
5.0
This campground is a gem! Quiet sites on and by American Lake, our site was on the upper row with a nice view and level gravel site. We were unable to extend our stay but would have liked to. Ray's Place on post had great coffee and a breakfast so large my wife and I shared it.
May 4-6, 2019
Overall rating
3.2
Location
4.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
4.0
Amenities/Facilities
2.0
Value
3.0
Overall Experience
3.0
After hearing many good things about this campground, we came to check it out ourselves. Besides the terrible freeway traffic, finding the campground wasn't difficult. However, I have updated the directions to make it easier. The roads in the campground are narrow with tight turns, so be careful. We had called prior to arrival and learned of our site #. The office is closed on weekends and we arrived on a Saturday. The campground is on the rustic side, which isn't a bad thing. Very heavy trees and getting a satellite signal can be a challenge. We were lucky with site #C6, as it had a clear view of the SE sky. The campground was about 80% full during our visit. The boat docks were closed for repairs. The restrooms were pretty clean. There's a museum on post, but it was closed on the weekend. Being a National Guard base, there's no amenities on post. We enjoyed our 2 day visit. Not much indication of homesteading (other than the host sites).
Jul;y 26th and 27th, 2010
Overall rating
2.8
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
2.0
Amenities/Facilities
3.0
Value
3.0
Overall Experience
2.0
The camp is well located, away from traffic, nestled under the trees. Beautiful setting! Our site was on the back row with a lot of room behind us. Great place for a gathering of friends whom we hadn't seen in a while. I hope our experience was an abnormality, however: We made reservations by phone for two nights. Prior to our arrival, local friends checked on the reservations, and after some searching, the reservations were found and confirmed. We arrived at the camp about 4:45. There was no one in the office, the camp host was not there, and the assistant camp host was also missing. There was no posting on the door as to which site we should be in. After waiting about twenty minutes, we decided to take a vacant spot and hope for the best. About 5:30, the assistant camp host showed up, but he was little help. He couldn't find us on the reservation list, but said we could stay where we were for the night, but may have to move the next day. The next morning, the camp host was in the office. He told us we could stay where we were, and that he had come by the RV the night before about 7:30. At that time, we were out doing some shopping. There was no note on the door or anything to let us know our status. The envelope with the registration sheet in it was also supposed to have a list of camp rules in it. The registration asked for a signature stating that we understood and would comply with these rules. I refused to sign a statement saying that I understood and would comply with rules about which I knew nothing. The bathroom and shower doors had combination's, but we were not provided with the combination's until I asked. They were not on any of the printed information. There were satellites antennas all over; however, there was no indication as to which were Dish and which were Direct TV. This information also was not printed anywhere. When I did get the correct hookup, I still could not get satellite TV. Sites could have used a good weed whacking and the area needed a good cleanup. From the other visitors' comments, I'm sure we just hit them on a bad day. I certainly hope so.
Jun 2005
Overall rating
5.0
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
5.0
Amenities/Facilities
5.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
5.0
Excellent place to stay right on the water, very quiet and cheap to stay!!
May 2, 2007
Overall rating
4.7
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
5.0
Amenities/Facilities
3.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
5.0
Excellent, rustic campground. Laundry available and base amenities and nearby Fort Lewis or McChord. Quiet. Right on the Lake. Friendly host although not always available.
06 Feb - 07 Feb 2010
Overall rating
4.6
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
5.0
Amenities/Facilities
5.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
4.0
We arrived at the campground after 2000. It was dark and it was hard to see, but when we got to the office our name was posted as promised when we called to reserve a spot. When we finally got our TT parked and situated, the camp host checked on us to make sure that things were OK. That was really wonderful that he would check on us before he retired for the night. When we woke up the next day, we took some time to skip rocks in the lake, soak in some nature and just really enjoy our trip. The place appeared to be very secluded, away from civilization, very serene, but it's actually minutes from Tacoma and even less to JBLM. Can't beat $14 for full hook-ups and even a Dish TV option if you have a receiver.
August 2022
Overall rating
4.2
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
4.0
Amenities/Facilities
4.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
4.0
If you want to be close to the water then this is a nice option. Some of the sites are pretty close but it is quiet.
29 Aug. 2008
Overall rating
3.7
Location
4.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
3.0
Amenities/Facilities
3.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
4.0
MUCH improved since we stopped there last year. There were no spaces available so we didn't use the facilities but it looks like a campground now instead of a kinda scary south Arkansas style trailer park like it looked last year.
Aug 19 - 22, 2010
Overall rating
3.0
Location
3.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
3.0
Amenities/Facilities
3.0
Value
3.0
Overall Experience
3.0
R.L. left this review using the Directory software: The sites are not exceptional but overall it's a pleasant place. I don't recall if we had reservations or not but the host greeted us and directed us to a site. They were pretty full so we were glad to get in. The old Washington National Guard base has attractive old buildings and an interesting memorial park. We enjoyed the walking trail from the campground around the base. Access to the commissary at Ft Lewis is good.
June 30, 2008
Overall rating
3.2
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
1.0
Amenities/Facilities
5.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
2.0
We stopped here for a tent site in the primitive camping area. The sites were beautiful, set deep in a wooded setting. While inspecting the sites we noticed that they were infested wit ants. We declined all available sites for that reason. The location was fine, the host was very nice. He said he could not kill the ants because of the enviormentalists. We chose to continue onto McChord famcamp.
August 2018
Overall rating
4.9
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
5.0
Amenities/Facilities
4.0
Value
5.0
Overall Experience
5.0
AUGUST 2018 We stayed on the waterfront row last August for 2 weeks. So peaceful and really beautiful. The prices have been raised to $25 for 30 amp and $32 for 50 amp. Still worth it for this gem of a campground so close to everything Tacoma and the surrounding area has to offer.
July 2009
Overall rating
4.0
Location
5.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
4.0
Amenities/Facilities
3.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
4.0
Sites a bit close together, but overall the park was in an excellent location to Fort Lewis and all the touring sites. Nice, quiet area...14 day limit was enforced when we were there as our neighbor had to move out when their time expired. Bald eagles were nesting nearby. They were rebuilding a fishing dock on the lake when we left. Should be good when completed. Park provided a hook-up for Dish and DirectTV so that you don't have to set up your satellite-cool! Will visit again if we come this direction...
17 May 2009
Overall rating
3.9
Location
4.0
Cleanliness/Hospitality
4.0
Amenities/Facilities
3.0
Value
4.0
Overall Experience
4.0
We normally stay here when we are in the Seattle area. The park is very quiet and you normally can get reservations. 30 amps work well enough for our rig. The view of the lake for the "temporary" guests is great. There are a large number of semi-permanent residents but they are not allowed to stay on the lake for more than 2 weeks. The rate is good for a full hook-up and base security is excellent. A large number of satellite receivers are available for Dish and Direct TV users so the lack of cable is not a major issue. Our cell/wifi card worked well also. (AT+T/Verizon).
