Millersylvania State Park, Washington

It's a mouth-full..... Originally called "Miller's Glade", the "Millersylvania" was named for the Miller family who were early settlers here. The name was later changed, replacing glade with "sylvania" which means "wooded land," or forest glade".

Millersylvania State Park is about 10 miles south of Olympia, and wooded it is. Fortunately you have a choice of camp sites. Many of the sites are in the deepest part of the woods which have some old growth and rather old second growth, or a loop with very open sites. We chose the open area, as the skies were gray and rain threatened, and we like all the light we can get. There are ferns everywhere, giving the park a fairy dell feeling.

It did rain during the night, so everything had a freshly washed look in the morning. Fortunately the rain had stopped by the time we finished breakfast. We only scheduled one night here, but the next scheduled stop is close, so we took time in the morning to walk over to Deep Lake, a centerpiece of the park.
It's 17 feet deep according to the park website. Small enough to look inviting for canoeing, it does have a boat ramp and a wooden dock. During the season there is a concession that rents small boats, but it's closed now (seems up here everything closes after Labor Day.) There are swimming areas marked off too, so in warmer weather families must really enjoy all the options.


The Miller family gave the property to the state in 1920, and in 1935 the CCC built many of the buildings still in use - restrooms and shower house, and several large outdoor kitchen/group picnic shelters.
These buildings have the beautiful large log and stone work and wrought iron hardware that are trademarks of the CCC's work. It's nice to see they've been so well cared for.

On the road again! - heading for Dosewallips State Park.