The Moroz family, of Hillsboro, hold a Coho salmon they caught last week while fishing together at Cape Disappointment State Park.

ILWACO — Fans of Cape Disappointment State Park are savoring the final days before seasonal repairs will force portions of the county’s most popular park to close until next spring.

Labor Day Weekend drew large crowds, including a surge of fishermen for the late-summer salmon run.

“I come every year,” said Vancouver resident Jack Feltz in between casts Thursday, Aug. 29, along North Jetty, a popular salmon-fishing spot near the mouth of the Columbia. “I’m going to miss it when they shut it down.”

Even before the holiday weekend began, fishermen thronged the jetty, with 110 vehicles parked along Jetty Road on Wednesday, Aug. 28. The jetty is one of the main places where fishermen without boats can access migrating salmon.

Pacific County’s most popular state park will receive a substantial overhaul to its facilities and infrastructure, with work set to begin Monday, Sept. 16, resulting in much of the park being closed to visitors into the spring of 2025.

The work that is slated to get underway during the park’s closure includes, among other things, redoing the entire park entrance, installing a new trail and taking down — and eventually replacing — the park’s existing administration office. Construction is expected to be wrapped up before the park reopens next spring. Look for more details in a forthcoming Chinook Observer.

Closure impact

The park’s closure specifically affects Waikiki Beach and camping loops A, B, C and D. Visitors will not be able to camp in the park beginning Sept. 16, although the vacation homes — the lightkeepers’ residences — at Cape Disappointment and at nearby Fort Columbia State Park will remain open.

“Parks is tasked with the maintenance and upkeep of the lands entrusted to us, including conservation of natural resources and recreation access for generations to come. These parts of our mission sometimes require temporary closures. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to improve the park,” a spokesperson stated to the Observer earlier this year.

Certain areas of the park will still be open for day use, including the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, North Head Lighthouse, Beard’s Hollow and the boat launch.

Increasingly popular park

Cape Disappointment State Park reported 971,071 visitors in 2023, the third-most visited state park in Washington, only trailing Deception Pass State Park (3,280,279 visitors) and Centennial Trail State Park (1,555,328 visitors).

Summer months were busiest, with a peak of 139,491 visitors last July, followed by 136,360 in August. Conversely, February (40,376) and January (44,740) were the least busy.

Visitation in 2023 represented a 24% increase from 2014, when 742,853 people came to the park.