Major projects at Cape Disappointment State Park are being postponed by a year.

CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT — Pacific County’s most popular state park will remain open this fall and winter after all.

The planned partial closure of Cape Disappointment State Park was set to begin on Monday and last through at least next March for extensive renovations and improvements, but a Washington State Parks spokesperson confirmed this week that the park will remain open until next September, when the project is scheduled to begin in earnest.

Pull Quote

‘We recognize Cape Disappointment is one of our most popular parks, so we want to be efficient with any closures that impact people’s ability to visit this beautiful place.’

Sarah Fronk, Washington State Parks communications manager

The park was to be closed to camping while renovations were ongoing, including loops A, B, C and D, and both Waikiki Beach and the North Jetty were also set to be inaccessible. Areas of the park that were going to remain open to visitors included the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, North Head Lighthouse, Beard’s Hollow and the boat launch.

Permits, materials

According to Sarah Fronk, communications manager for state parks, the delay is due to a combination of factors. Permitting issues with the redoing of the entire park entrance, which is one of the most notable planned improvements, as well as the delayed arrival of materials for a culvert replacement project are what led to the postponement.

Fronk said that both of the aforementioned factors put state parks’ timeline at risk. The agency was committed to having the park fully reopened by Memorial Day weekend in 2025, which is one of the most popular camping weekends of the year.

“One of our main priorities for this project is to minimize the impact to visitors by completing all of the necessary work during one targeted time window rather than having several separate closures,” Fronk said. “We recognize Cape Disappointment is one of our most popular parks, so we want to be efficient with any closures that impact people’s ability to visit this beautiful place.”

The agency had closed camping for the anticipated closure window ahead of the now-delayed project, and Fronk said state parks is working with their Camping Reservation Service to reopen these dates to the public.

A press release to announce the postponement with additional details is expected to be released later this week, after the Observer’s Sept. 17 print deadline.

Planned improvements

A handful of improvements were expected to be addressed during the closure thanks to funding that was provided in the state budget that was passed and signed into law during the 2023 session of the Washington State Legislature. In all, about $8 million was set aside for work at the park, which is one of the most-visited in the state.

The redoing of the park entrance was intended to make traffic flow easier, and an existing administrative office was also set to be taken down and eventually replaced.

The campground access road was also slated to receive extensive repairs, which a spokesperson said would make the road safer — especially for RVs and camp trailers. Culverts along the road were also going to be replaced. The campground itself would not be reconfigured during the closure; the northern part of the campground closes during the winter months because of the close proximity of the surf.

A new trail that would connect the two ends of the confluence of Three Waters Trail, which was designed by renowned architect and designer Maya Lin, was to be developed and would also provide access to the Lake O’Neil overlook. Some areas of the park would also have been restored as a wetland habitat, providing more birding and wildlife viewing opportunities for visitors.

“Restored wetland not only makes the park prettier, it protects habitat for the birds and wildlife,” a spokesperson previously said.

Work on these improvements is now scheduled to begin next September.