In a bid for self-sufficiency, Chinook County (Washington) officials are looking into ways to boost county parks. One of the priorities is improving Chinook Park to allow tent camping while continuing day-use ability.
As per a report, the park was previously a campground before becoming a day-use-only park.
Pacific County Commissioner Lisa Olsen, Department of Public Works Director David Anderson, and County Engineer Grace Amundsen Barnkow held a public meeting at Chinook on April 14 to seek public feedback on the proposed change.
It’s been a campground before, but it’s just been a park, and the county never really had any funds to put into it; plus, we never really had anybody who was really interested in making the parks more than just day parks,” Olsen said.
The initial plans call for the addition of about 25 tent camping sites, a portable shower system under a contract that would include maintenance by the provider, and additional portable toilets if necessary.
There is already a restroom facility available for park users.
As part of the plan, the park’s day-use area will remain, with a planned playground expansion, while campsites would be situated in the middle of the park.
The campsites will likely be accessible to car campers and overlanding-style rigs with attached tents.
RV-type sites are not yet a top priority, but Olsen said it’s still on the table. Improvements to the park’s septic and sewer system will likely be needed before the idea comes to a realization. Olsen further stated that before RV spots could happen, the county would have to make sure they would comply with their own set of RV park regulations.
We are looking at it being sort of an overflow for tent camping because some of the other parks aren’t so much set up for tent camping anymore,” Olsen said. “We could give people a place to camp but not suck away from the private campgrounds.”
This story originally appeared on Chinook Observer.