Chinook County Park includes hundreds of feet of Baker Bay shoreline access. Under a new plan, people would be permitted to camp overnight in the park in tents.

CHINOOK — County officials say they are looking at ways to boost county parks in an effort to make them self-sufficient. One priority is geared toward upgrading the Chinook Park to allow tent camping while also continuing day-use ability.

The park was previously a campground decades ago before being made into 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 community meeting in Chinook on April 14 to solicit public input on the proposed change.

Pull Quote

‘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.’

County Commissioner Lisa Olsen

After the hiring of Anderson and Amundsen-Barnkow back in March, they both came into the public works office looking at ways to make the department more efficient and improve already established facilities. One of their ideas was to upgrade all county parks, make them self-sufficient and possibly profitable.

“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.

Good meeting

The meeting was well attended, with around 30 residents participating in the discussion, which lasted just over an hour. Olsen said her impression is that the public is fairly in favor of the proposal.

“It was very polite … and we let them know right off the top that, yes, this was something we wanted to do, but we really wanted the input and opinion of the community as well,” Olsen said.

“I thought it was really productive, kind of a mixed bag, and a few people came up afterward and [stated] they were really in support of improving the park, and a few people said during the meeting that they would prefer it to stay a day-use park,” she added.

The preliminary plans call for adding about 25 tent camping sites, a portable shower system under a contract that would include maintaining it by the provider, and additional portable toilets if necessary.

The park already has a toilet facility available for park users.

As part of the plan, the park’s day-use area would remain with a proposed playground addition, while the campsites would be situated in the middle of the park. The campsites would likely be available to car campers and overlanding-style rigs with attached tents.

No RVs, for now

However, RV-type sites are currently not a priority, but Olsen noted it is a goal for the park that is still on the table. Upgrades to the park’s septic system and/or sewer system would likely be necessary before the idea could come to fruition. Olsen also added that before RV spots could be in the works, the county would have to make sure they would be in compliance 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.”

Other parks considered

The county is also looking at options for Morehead Park in Nahcotta and Bruceport Park near South Bend and what upgrades would suit those locations. Olsen hopes the county can perform much-needed renovations or complete replacements of the Morehead Park cabins in the near term.

“We are really looking at grants and things to make [improvements at] Morehead,” Olsen said. “It is such a beautiful property, so it’s definitely on the plate as well. People still come, and the cabins are just crap.”

“They come and use the [old places] and the clubhouse, and people still want to come and use it, so we really need to [get going on it]. What we would really like to do is refurbish the old clubhouse area with the kitchen and fireplace and all that and kind of keep the historical part of it.”

With the summer season quickly approaching, Olsen and other officials hope to get the ball rolling fairly soon on converting Chinook Park. They are also open to public opinion, according to Olsen, who said, “we are always open for discussion on the park and other things.”