Holiday Park FamCamp

I thoroughly disagree with the previous post. I have stayed at Holiday park many times since 2006. We are full timers and have traveled all over the country and stay in military RV parks when there is one in the vicinity. Since we are from the Pacific Northwest we most frequently stay at Fort Lewis, McChord, or Camp Murray. The Holiday park campground has some particular advantages. The setting is beautiful. Those trees that were complained about are mainly Douglas Fir. Some are several hundred years old and exceed 100 feet in height. They are majestic. It is like staying in a an enchanted forest. There are deer and other wildlife and a great variety of birds. Yes, you do get pine needles in everything, but if you want to stay here you accept that, or go somewhere else. The Pacific Northwest is known for big windstorms in October and November. If the winds are going to exceed 50 mph the park staff has always told everyone to leave, because limbs do fall, and occasionally even trees. But most of the time it is perfectly Safe. If the poster had seen this park in the past they would not be complaining. The showers were disgusting, Now they are completely redone, and clean. The laundry has new washers and driers. The electrical was only 30 amp. Only half the park had sewer. Now all the regular sites have full hook ups with 30 and 50 amp service. I used to have to make a run to the dump site every 3 or 4 days. That is no longer necessary. One loop is much lower than the rest of the park and would regularly flood during heavy rains. I once had to wade through six inches of water to get to higher ground. That has been fixed. There is now a sump pump to get rid of the water. The Club house was an old building that was cold and smelled bad. It was taken down and a new one built. It has TV, lots of videos and books, and in the last few weeks they added WI-FI, but it is only in the club house. That makes sense because the trees would block the signal. TV reception has always been bad here because of the trees, and good luck getting a SAT TV signal. Cell reception is spotty, but in some sites is very good. The staff, particularly Ron and Maggie have always gone out of their way to help when I needed it. They have one other assistant. They do a good job considering it is only three people. Yes they don't normally mow the grass in the winter because it rains a lot. (I mean, a lot!) They do attempt to clean up branches and debris after storms, but in the winter it is a never ending job. Since Ron took over a few years ago the park has improved significantly. The blackberries do grow wild in the summer. That is true all over the Pacific Northwest. It makes for good berry picking. The park staff do cut them back as needed. Occasionally dogs here are off leash, which I do not like, and some of the big dogs can be intimidating. But they should be on a leash. There are coyotes on McChord and small dogs could be easily killed by them. However, whenever a particular pet has gotten out of hand a word to Ron has usually solved the problem. McChord also has an off leash dog park where people can run their dogs. The electrical system was upgraded a few months ago, and they did have some power outages. One was a general outage for the whole Lakewood area. But that's why we have generators. If you live in an RV you deal with it. The only reason I gave them a 3 in amenities, and value has nothing to do with the staff. Rather, with the management. Yes they raised the price. it went from $300 to $504 for 28 days. I have stayed at RV "resorts" for less than that. All three parks here did this. These parks are supposed to be for the benefit of active duty and retired personnel with active duty having top priority. But how many junior active duty enlisted can afford that price? It seems to me that the contractors running the parks are only interested in their profit margin. This is not because of only the daily price increase. They also increased prices for storage and limited the number of vehicles you can have. They seem to be extremely slow in updating facilities, and providing adequate personnel to maintain the parks. Simple things like cleaning the common areas are subcontracted and done only a couple days a week. When equipment breaks down it seems to take weeks to get it repaired. Overall I would rate this park as a good value, but would have called it very good value under the previous price. I would stay here any time. Compared to Fort Lewis or Camp Murray: the park itself isn't as modern as Fort Lewis but the facilities and amenities are better than Camp Murray. The staff at Holiday park is far more helpful and friendly than at Fort Lewis and about the same as Camp Murray. These three are all about the same price now but Camp Murray still has a slightly lower price. Overall experience is excellent.

We stayed here to visit family on the base during the Thanksgiving week. We had stayed here before many years ago and did enjoy our time here. The commissary/exchange and gas station are close by. When we visited below, they were adding sewer to most of the RV sites, which is certainly very nice especially if you are staying here for several days. Our site, #32 was on a loop that did have the newer sewer hook ups and easy access. Access to the base was via the main gate on Bridgeport Way, and I had no issues at all entering or leaving in my 30' Class C pulling a Jeep Cherokee. We did not use the laundry or bathroom facilities so I couldn't rate their cleanliness. The nice addition is to be able to watch the C-5's and other aircraft do their touch-n-go's on the adjacent airstrip; just love hearing that "sound of freedom"!

Holiday Park is beautiful. It's within a pine forest and you can even smell the pine in the air. Trees, trees and more trees. Keep that in mind when you make your decision to come here. Some sites are flanked on either side of the entrance with trees and others are somewhat easier. We were in site 37. It's close to the entrance to the park, but you have go through the entire park to get to it. Some of the roads you have to go on are skinny, curvy and, did I mention, full of trees. But, once you get settled it is great! Shaded, cooler than the temps out in the city, quiet (except for the occasional plane taking off or landing) and very relaxing. The sites are far apart in this section. You feel like in you're in the woods by yourself. Our first day here was the last day of the horrific heat wave in the PNW. It was 99 here in the shade. We arrived early to beat the heat, but the people that had this site were still here (12:30pm). They took 1 1/2 hours to move out while we sat with the engine running (check out is 11:00). Then, we had to jump through hoops of fire to get this rig in this site. Once we were settled we discovered that one leg of the 50amp was low voltage and we could only run one a/c. It didn't get resolved until the next morning because it required a new breaker and they didn't have one. The office is closed on Sunday and Monday - you better know your site number and how to get to it if you're going to arrive when the office is closed. We would come back again and again.

I enjoyed our stay at this famcamp. The reason that I marked Cleanliness down was because both the men's and women's showers need funds invested into them for upgrading. The floor in both need work. Also the women's has problem draining. The Facilities were marked down because we were not allowed to keep our 8 foot tag along trailer on our site, or within sight. As a 20' long van we need the extra storage. The two combined equal 30 feet in length, shorter than most coaches. We were informed that we could not keep our trailer on site (#31), (W&E), because in case of a fire we might not be able to get out. I agree that limits need to be placed on trailers, because some people go overboard when combining long trailers with Coaches or long Class C's. The rule says ALL cargo trailers need to be in the main storage area BUT boat trailers and toads are able to be kept on site. GO FIGURE! We love the (W&E) sites being set back into the trees and separated by vegetation. We have stayed in plenty of parking lot style rv parks, this is a pleasant change. We had plenty of deer and sighted coyotes. We will be back. If you are here the night of July 4th, we recommend the fireworks display at Fort Lewis. We will be back any time we have a reason to be in the area.

HEADS UP: the MCChord Fam Camp will be CLOSED during the McChord Air Show July 2012. Over the years Roy has done a great job of improving the McChord FamCamp. June-July 2012 the bathhouse/laundry room is closed. It is being redone and will be a great improvement. The Fam Camp will be closed for the McChord Air Show believe dates are 20 - 23 July. Check Joint Base Lewis-McCord's web page for information regarding the Air Show. ALL RVers from the FamCamp will be moved to the McChord Commissary parking lot. The McCord camp ground will be closed and off limits to everyone during the Air Show. The upper RV camping area (the upper loop) are being up graded to include 50A service. All RV spaces have E/S/W now. Only problem is the old crusty "volunteer" who hangs around the office and camp ground. He needs to improve his attitude and customer relations. He is NOT a MWR employee or a host. But, acts like he is. Ron told us that he, the crusty old guy, has helped fix many things at the camp ground. But, this does not excuse his being rude to people and making comments that are out of line about camper's dogs, tent campers, children etc. Again he is not employed there and should keep his mouth shut. To clarify: Ron is the manager and he has done many great things to improve the camp ground. Roy is the old crusty guy who hangs around Ron. Roy needs to improve his customer skills and refrain from making rude comments regarding camper's dogs, kids, etc. Roy is not an employee at the camp ground. Nor, is he a host. But he acts like he runs the place. Another wanna be. Since campground has been taken over by Fort Lewis, Ron (the manager) is waiting for the day for the prices to go up. I have to agree with him..the price will go up.

Enjoyed our partial hook-up site as previous review says-flat black top in the trees. Lots of dog walking area and recycling at campground (more on base). No diesel on base and can't use chow hall however lots of shopping on the base! Accessible to Ft. Lewis and Mt. Rainer and sites in Tacoma and not that far to Seattle. Verizon Internet was fine and I hear those with satellite often park in the dry-camp area so receive reception. If you chose to tent camp the restrooms are a distance though! Will definitely return to further investigate the area!

We needed a last minute spot and Lydia was very accommodating. We only need 14 days of dry camping. We also stored our fifth wheel for a week at only $5.00 per day.

This is a great bargain @ $13/night. We stayed in the section with only W/E. Very private, lots of big trees (no sunlight gets through) and very peaceful setting. When we arrived no one was around so we took one of the sites available on the board and registered the following morning. Staff was helpful. Verizon cell phones and wi-fi worked well. No Direct tv - too many tall trees. Didn't use the showers/bathrooms. Laundry is VERY small (the room) with 3 washers and 3 dryers and heavily used. More than one person in there and you're falling over one another. No maps are available for the base and if you're a first time user it's difficult to find your way around. Good facilities on base when you do find them. We put our rig in storage on the field @ the park - $1/day. Great if you're taking a cruise from Seattle. Our mail disappeared and the host left a message on my phone and he held the mail until our return.

We stayed 11 nights at JBLM Holiday Park, McChord Field, WA, in July 2023. The trees were tight backing in our site, but we were able to do it. Once in the site it was plenty big enough and fairly clean. Nice picnic table, charcoal grill, and fire ring. Two sets of bathrooms and shower rooms were spacious and well maintained. Didn't use the laundry room. Small playground for the kids, Cell service was a bit spotty with AT&T. Roads inside the park were narrow but enough. Two loops plus quite a few dry camp sites. Nice pavilion near the office. Office hours on the main signs are wrong. Open 10AM-4PM Mon-Fri. Also had Sat hours, but I missed them. We had to extend during our stay and the office was great about handling it. We'll be back again! We camped at Holiday Park FamCamp in a Fifth Wheel. If you're over 32 feet, try using the Madigan gate. About 1 1/2 hour drive to Mt Rainier NP, we went to Paradise, but about the same distance to Sunrise. Do go to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, Dash Point State Park beach, and Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle.

Great location, beautiful surroundings and a good value for the money. Unfortunately when we went to use the bathroom facilities we were shocked at their condition. They are in desperate need of an upgrade! The facility is obviously very popular, with enough suitable land to where additional RV spaces with full-hookup could be easily created.

The showers here are disgusting, and dirty!!! The facility manager NEVER cleans them. In fact, the facility maintenance personnel here NEVER clean anything. The berry briars and grass grow out of control, in a 5 month period they mowed the grass one time. The trees drop HUGE limbs on your rig due to the park NEVER cutting the limbs, and also the pine needles get in every crevice of your RV and your car. BE PREPARED to step in dog crap all day since the manager does not regulate the animal policy. There is supposed to be a leash law here in the park, but that is not enforced. Dogs run wild and POOP everywhere. My 4 has gotten dog crap on him numerous times from playing outside and tripping in it. The water and power go out here unexplainable all the time! The park had a electrician come out and mess with the power box and do maintenance, and my neighbor's dog ended up getting shocked with an INSANE amount of voltage going through his rig. The electrician came over and said he did not know what could have caused that, and all the electrician said was, "That is not good!". If you are going to stay here, this better be your last resort, or make it a short visit! Also, the rates just went up to $504 dollars a month for a terrible park with no benefits to stay here. Plus the $504 dollars only covers a 28 day stay. When I questioned the park manager why the price had DOUBLED, he told me the JBLM wants to make money off the campers for what they updated. All I can say to that is, "What updates???" This park is charging way more than a good park with amenities such as a pool, hot tub, and clean. Oh and I almost forgot. Right out of the front gate on Bridgeport you will see drug deals, gang activity, crime, and the police are constantly arresting people. The only safe place in the area is on base. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE... Good RV parks include: Rainier View-Graham, WA, Cedar Glen-Poulsbo, WA, Eagle Tree-Poulsbo, WA. These are just a few in the area. If you want a good vacation, take your RV to Astoria-Seaside, OR and stay at a RV park on the coast.