I spent the first 62 years of my life living on the Olympic Peninsula. I have camped and hiked it for decades. Where to stay? The park is so large and diverse that you will want to consider staying on all four sides. There are large RV options in each direction so it is just a matter of how long you want to stay.

My favorite side is the West side which includes two rain forests and the Pacific Ocean. The Hoh and Quinault Rain Forests are like being in another world. The hikes out to the Pacific in the Northwest corner are extraordinary. They cover all skill levels so it's a matter of just picking the right ones.

To the North are the best mountain drives. The Port Angeles area has many RV options.

To the East is Hood Canal and a dozen RV locations. This area has many entries through river valley's coming down out of the park. Great hiking and day drives. Also our favorite waterfall.

The South side of the Park is more traditional camping, rivers, streams, forests and lots of small logging towns.

Olympic National Park is an amazing jewel in our National Park system. Enjoy.

We also agree with RussRanger. We workcamped in Elma WA (Elma RV Park, $16.50 PA rate or just say Sherry & Jesse recommended, friendly small park to use as Southern base) last summer and met many campers who thought they could do the Olympic loop in one day. We called it "divorce prep." The state and Federal Parks, as you suggest can't take a rig your size. Do take in Quinault Lodge and the drive thru the rain forest. There are rangers near there that can recommend hikes. Poulsboro (Viking Cakes!) , Sequim (Thunder Ridge). Gig Harbor & Port Townsend were also some of our favorite places. Plus the drive up the Hood Canal. Do not miss any signs you see for OLYMPIC MOUNTAIN Ice Cream it's the best ever! As Russ and Bill indicated there is so much to see and do there hope you plan on a long visit.

Sherry

In your original post you stated that you would rather stay in the park campgrounds. I have seen large rigs in the Kalaloch campground on the Western side of the park, not sure what their max size is.

Near Port Angeles / Sequim, you might want to check out the 2 county parks. www.clallam.net/Parks/

Salt Creek had larger rigs when we drove through there one time to check it out. We loved staying on the Dungeness Spit area but had a 30 ft TT at the time, not sure if they have many sites that are big enough for a 37 ft, but would be worth checking it out.

On the East side, Dosewallips State Park might be an option.

Presume you mean bats.

Elwa Dam as noted is nice. We ended up needing a spot for 2 months as I broke a bone in my foot while we were out there. We checked out another place over near the Indian Casino named Elma something or other…but the nice spots in front were only for daily or weekly rates; if you wanted a monthly rate as we did (broke bone in foot so we needed 2 months) you had to go back into the not so nice area of the park.

We ended up at Ravier View RV Park in Graham. A little longer drive but still headed over Olympia way for a few sightseeing trips.

Sue - usually the area has reasonable weather until mid-Sept but you never know when the rainy season will start. The area around Sequim is part of the "banana belt" and gets less rain than anywhere else on the Peninsula due to the rain shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains.