The capital state forest is a huge state forest by any measure. It's geared towards recreation and conveniently positioned just south of Olympia. The best set of mountain bike trails are 15 minutes drive into the forest. My wife and I explored them once on foot and were only able to see a small segment. There were a fair number of mountain bikers enjoying the trails. The drive to the trail is part pavement, part dirt. As you drive along a dirt ridge and start to think that you are lost, it actually means you're getting close. There are a handful of other trail networks surrounding the state forest, but these seem to be focused for off-road motorcycle use. I wouldn't use them on busy weekends but they are great hiking trails on a weekday evening. Off-road motorcycling seems to be a gear intensive sport and not one easily managed quickly after work. A late summer hike might get dusty, but the views get progressively better the farther you go up. Also, these trails only appear manageable for experienced motorcyclists. That might be another reason I only saw one motorcycle at the beginning flat section and none farther up. There is one mountain biking trail network on the northern side of the state forest near the road. Unfortunately, it is downhill only. I huffed and puffed my way up part of it and was passed by a group of mountain bikers heading up together with their bikes in a pickup truck. This seemed to be the best method. I slowly walked down on the intermediate trail to test the difficulty and confirmed that it was beyond my ability. The trails in Washington generally skew towards the higher end of the difficulty level, probably because the mountains are so steep. read more

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Dear God!!!! Camped at Margaret Mackenney campground in capital Forest where if you have a Discover pass keep this in mind for later, you can stay for a total of seven nights for free so that's a great resource and I really appreciate it and I do have a Discover pass and I am staying here for four nights on my way to somewhere else. that being said, the other people camped here most of them are being very loud blasting all different kinds of music that you can literally hear clear on the other side of the campground, I have that going on three sides of me, one of the groups of people have five or six dogs who keep getting in big fights with each other and then trying to attack other dogs as they're walking past with their owners. Kids in the campsite next to me were up half the night, talking really loud and I could hear them from INSIDE my hard sided camper. There's a guy in a battered minivan with plastic for windows camped across from me that looks like he's selling drugs because other people have pulled up and he got out and they exchanged something and then the other people went on their way right away so there's that shady aspect going on. And there are people driving through here all night long!!! if I did not have a hard sided camper, I would not be able to stay here due to the noise at night, especially. This could be such a peaceful place if people would respect it. And the other thing is the camp host? Here is so deaf that he cannot even tell what you're saying to him, I tried to talk to him and he kept saying what??? so good luck with the Campos being able to hear if people are causing noise and fractions. What a joke. and by the way, there are people camping here without a Discover pass. Tons of young people with kids, this is the kind of place where trailer trash lowlifes come with her numerous kids to teach the next hopeless generation of little snot nose, assholes how to camp. And I'm very nice positive person the fast majority of the time it takes a lot to get me in this kind of mood, would not stay here if I were you. read more

Capital forest is always a great place to go for a hike weather for an overnight or a day hike there are several options to choose from , horse , hike , motorcycle or bicycle also several campgrounds to choose from , really close to Olympia, WA . read more

Capitol State Forest - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Olympia, Washington

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Beautiful sunny day to take a hike. Directions a little confusing. We asked the Park Staff on how to get to the falls and he said was kinda hard to explain. So just keep left until we reach a picnic bench and just below are the falls. Small but still stunning. Only downfall would be directions. On the way back we helped several lost people looking for falls. Bathrooms (porta potty) 2 located at parking area only. Horses, dogs and kids on trail. One person did turn around with stroller. She was having hard time. All in all a great hike and beautiful PNW adventure. Parking pass required** read more

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Weird that no one has wrote a review for this super huge park. It may be that it's hard to find the entrance. In fact there are several entrance points. I found the Bordeaux entrance just cruising around the Mima Falls Campground area which I found by way of Mima Mounds park. It's fun to go traveling with no destination in mind. This park is major huge. Not as big as the Olympics but big enough to easily get lost in...in a good way. I don't know if it is because it has been raining or is it just the way the forest smells but the air smells so fresh out there. The Capitol State Forest and Mima Mounds are perfect for hikers and campers. You do have to have the Discovery Pass and watch out for hunters. They even have signs to watch out for wild turkey poachers. I guess wild turkeys are protected or something. This is a perfect drive to take the kids out in. As you can see from the pix of signage I took the public road system ends not too far into the park so be careful. Also there is wildlife galore so watch out. Sadly I ran over a snake :( RIP Mr or Mrs snake. I guess I'm glad it wasn't a deer. Please check this place out. Do your research before you go, wear good tough shoes and watch out for the ivy read more

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Looking for a nice place for tranquility, clean and clear walking trails trails and well labeled signs? Don't go to Capitol forest. Looking for a place to blow off your gun and yell YEE HAW, dump your trash, or get ran over by an ATV? Yeah, this place is for you. Seriously. This place blows. So much potential though. read more

I love to hike in the forest but am dismayed at the amount of trash out there. Not to mention all of the shells no one bothers to clean up after they go shooting. I also am frustrated by the number of roads that access the forest that have signs disallowing public access to the public land beyond. Otherwise, this is a great place to spend the afternoon hiking. read more

The capitol state forest is amazing! If you are a greener weirdo that hates riding motorcycles, target shooting, hunting, four wheeling and doing other things besides hitting the peace pipe - this is not the place for you! although there are plenty of nice trials to waterfalls and trees for your enjoyment there are a ton of people that hunt this forest every year since all other available hunting in the immediate area has gone to private permits only. so expect to see people toting guns during your visit. For those of you that know how to read a map and want to have some fun in the woods just outside of town and are not scared of a shotgun...Welcome! read more