yakima sportsman state park

Eagles, owls, egrets, beaver, deer, hiking trails, ponds and river, benches here and there, quiet, well maintained, friendly yet non-intrusive paid and volunteer staff... just a wonderful break in the "Palm Springs of Washington"

Odd title I know. I visited here recently, ordered off the bar menu for happy hour. 30 mins goes by no food, order another drink, ask about food etc. another 20 mins and still no food. Had a meeting to get to so I advised them to cash me out. They told me to take the food that was no coming up free of charge and discounted my tab immensely. Wasnt that big of an impact but I certainly appreciated the gesture.Nice job in customer service towards a bad visit. I will be back and the reason is exactly as outlined above.Cool sports bar, lots of tv's, cold beer etc.

They host us every year for a family campout with around a hundred friends or more... We are a big crowd.. They always take care of things for us. Clean, quiet, refreshing place to relax.

This is a typical state park. It’s located fairly close to the freeway (I-82) and easy to access. Our spot (24) was fairly level, there are full hookups (50/30/15 amp) with water and sewer. We had made a reservation about 2 months prior to arrival. We backed up to a trail area, and we were one of the few spots with no trees for shade, so it was HOT while the sun was up. When we arrived (about 4pm) the entry booth was closed and no one was around – and the signing is rather poor, so with no map and bad signs, it took a few minutes of random driving to find the camp area and our spot. There was a burn ban, so you could only use propane grills and propane campfires (no wood or charcoal) The garbage bin was nearby, but no recycling (their solution is to ask you to take it home and recycle, which tells me people are probably just throwing it out) There are 2 circular full-hookup areas, plus another line of full hookups nearby. Get the circular ones if you can, the spots in a line are VERY close together, although they did have more trees and shade area (they are also pull-through spots, vs back in spots if that is important to you)We were only there one night, so didn’t utilize any of the trails or other facilities, but they looked nice. Overall, a nice place to spend a night, but don’t know if I’d spend a lot of time there.

I usually stop here a couple of times a year when traveling on business. I've camped here in the past and it was OK, but I really love is how close it's located to downtown Yakima and all the wildlife. If you looking for a relaxing State park with plenty of shade to escape the warm climate in Yakima, this is the place for you! There's a also a great variety of birds here... Herons, Wood ducks, and Yellow-headed blackbirds like to call this place home.

We stayed here for a recent baseball tourney. Never stayed here before but the pictures made the place look nice. We reserved an RV space with full hook ups. Arrived Friday evening. Ranger at front gate was super friendly. The park is very green and spacious. Probably one of the nicer State Parks I've stayed in here in Washington. Our space was decent, nice and flat...didn't have to do much to level the RV. The proximity to the baseball fields in town was great too. I'm sure we will have more tournaments here in the future and I would for sure skip the high price of the hotels and stay here again.

On a Sunday afternoon, where can you find a clean and natural picnic area with restrooms and picnic tables (that isn't crowded or blaring music)? This is the spot. You need a Discover pass to get in, which is why it is not crowded. However, if you are into Renaissance fairs, that crowd sets up and occupies a part of the field and campground. They are a pretty quiet group, very clean and respectful. No problem there. There are turtles, beavers, birds, ducks, geese, and woodpeckers to watch while you hike around the pond. This is one of those spots that gets forgotten. I've lived here 20 years and never set foot inside it until today. It was nice. Not fabulously maintained. There were bees and red fly everywhere. I wish they would spray at least a little. But nice. Showers were both out of order. Maintenance aside, it's got a nice playground and big trees. On the downside, you can hear the racetrack from here. Not a natural sound.

I take my golden retriever to this park every other week. We can spend several hours hiking if we want to. We really enjoy it. It really very nicely maintained. It is never crowed at all. They have restrooms, nice playground area, volleyball area, horseshoe pit, lots of parking and looks like the overnight camping area is large and always in use. There is access to Yakima River and a couple of large ponds. And lots of nature to see and listen to. You must get a Washington State Discover Pass....which cost $30.00 for 12 months and is well worth it because you can use it at other State Park locations. We use it at locations along the Yakima Canyon area.Highly recommended.

YSSP is a great place to camp. The hook-up sites are very well designed and maintained. The privacy level is good. They beautiful big trees are everywhere. It's hard to tell that you are so close to the city of Yakima when you are camping here. Amenities are close by and varied. All-in-all a great place to camp.

Go here a lot as it is close and I need the exercise! Nice trails and pond with wild birds in it. Playground for the kids and plenty of picnic tables to sit and enjoy nature without traveling far!

We only stayed one night on our way down to Arizona. We got in after 11pm and knowing that we could open the gate and let ourselves in was great peace of mind. We were out again shortly after sunrise, but the campground was clean. We would stay here again.

Its just ok, nothing great in my opinion. Lots of people camp there.I haven't been there for quite sometime. the last time I believe was for a picnic. It's beside the river off, a fairly quiet street.

Confusing routing. Very loud. Bathrooms had signs by the showers that said 'Due to budget cuts they were charging extra for showers but had to upgrade to tokens rather than quarters.' Then right underneath that sign it basically said 'Due to budget cuts staff have been cut so good luck getting into the office to get tokens.' Stupid.As said in the title - it's good enough for a one night stay but I wouldn't recommend it.

We recently tent camped at this state park.Since we tent, we prefer a more private/rural setting, so we were a little disappointed, but others may not mind it.The park looks more like an rv park, is divided into 2 sections- an rv section and a tent section. The rv section looks more like an rv park- no trees, very little room between spots ( if you have a pull out awning it may hit the rv next to you ) most rv spots have power, water & sewer.The tent section is a little more forested, with some trees between spots. No power/water but has fire pit & picnic table.Has two restrooms with pay showers.There are a few hiking trails that are at least a mile or two, near the river.If you are a camper that doesn't mind close neighbors, this is a good spot.