We just returned from a beautiful weekend in Lewis County, Washington, about 2 hours south of Seattle.  Ike Kinswa State Park, where we stayed, is a little over 450-acres with most of it’s focus on camping.  To the east is the Cowlitz River, to the west is the Tilton River, and at the confluence is Mayfield Lake.  Mayfield Lake was created by the Mayfield Dam located in the nearby town of Mossyrock.

Along with camping, visitors also enjoy recreational boating, fresh water fishing, and swimming and water skiing in the warmer summer months.  We were just happy to enjoy some solitude and time away from the city with plenty of opportunity to hike and explore nature as a family.

Based on our experience at Ike Kinswa, along with our adventure at Samuel P. Taylor State Park in California, and all the fun that we had camping when Bergen was a baby, I wanted to share a few quick tips! As you’ll see we took some “short-cuts” here, and some might even dare to say that we weren’t actually camping, but for our purposes (vacationing and enjoying the outdoors in a park as a family), I think we did just fine!

5 Helpful Tips for Camping with a Baby

• Stay in a Cabin or Yurt

There’s a lot of work involved in setting up camp even for just a few nights, and we appreciate taking the tent assembly out of the equation.  Also, when the weather is hard to predict (and planning far in advance is necessary), we appreciate a guaranteed warm and dry shelter! We’ve stayed in numerous state park cabins and yurts over the years, and find them so delightfully cozy, comfortable, and affordable.

We get the best of both worlds.  We still get to be immersed in nature, but also get those comforts of home such as heat, electricity, and a bed to sleep on.

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