REVIEW: Tall Chief RV Park, Fall City, WA

Tall Chief RV Park, Fall City, WA

http://camp-tallchief.com/

Located just west of the Seattle/Tacoma area, at the base of the Cascade Mountains off I-90, this is a lush respite.  The entire landscape is a palette of greens – which change as the sun meanders lazily across the summer sky.

The park is situated behind a series of stunning homes – all gated.  And the entrance to Tall Chief is also protected (not sure from whom) by a guard shack and a gate.  Each guest is granted an access code for after-hours use.  I checked in (forgetting my Good Sam’s Discount until after the transaction was complete) and heard a phrase I would grow accustomed to, “I can’t help you, but they might be able to do something for you in the business office, during business hours”.  Who camps during business hours?

Then I learned that we were to drive around the park and pick out a site, write down the number, and come back to the guard shack.  We also had to list each guest who may be coming to visit (this was substantial as our daughter was bringing our granddaughter for the week and my wife’ sister, father, and family were also coming for the day).  Oh well….

We did get a shady spot and got everything settled before Aniyah (our 15 month old bundle of joy) arrived for dinner. Bliss…

One frustration was the appearance of a gaggle of kids who wanted to watch and insert themselves in every step of our set up.  They stayed about an hour (and many hours in the following days) with little oversight from their mom (who with a baby and another on the way was overwhelmed).  Did make us nervous though – not all campers have good intentions…

We grew to appreciate this little band of kiddos. We cooked them hot dogs and potato salad (which they devoured with big smiles and polite “thank-yous”). They live full-time in a small trailer – can’t be easy.

We stayed two days, swam in the gorgeous pool, washed in the clean laundry, and walked around the place a bit.  There were a few frustrations (listed below), but not a bad place overall…

THE GOOD:

• GREEN!
• Clean
• Large and easy to navigate
• Great Pool

THE BAD:

• Now I know why some RV parks limit guests to rigs ten years old or less
• Sites are muddy

THE UGLY:

• The highest electrical is 30 AMP.  And it went out in the late afternoon (luckily we have an expensive surge protector – because all sorts of alarms went off and our electronics would have been fried).  When I asked about this at the guard shack – they apologized and said “Too many air conditioners – you can talk to the business office during business hours.”

WORTH COMING BACK?  There are better options nearby – but the pool is VERY nice

RECCOMENDED?  In a pinch or if you don’t need electrical in the summer