Alta Lake and Bridgeport

PATEROS/BRIDGEPORT – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (WSPRC) is reaching out to residents of Pateros and Bridgeport along with those living in surrounding areas concerning the future plans for Alta Lake and Bridgeport state parks.

WSPRC Parks Planner Melinda Posner addressed the regular meeting of the Brewster Chamber of Commerce last Wednesday, May 8, to explain elements of the agency’s park planning process known as Classification and Management Planning (CAMP) and what it involves.
Posner said CAMP includes four stages:

1. Identify issues and concerns of interested parties and park users. This stage seeks out what is important to the park community and what to change or save as part of the long-term plan.

2. Explore alternative approaches to address issues. At this stage the planning team explores alternative approaches to issues raised in stage one as a route to understand the range of possibilities.

3. Prepare preliminary recommendations to address issues. The best ideas from the alternative approaches from stage two are incorporated in a preliminary plan. These include use and development of land, property boundary adjustments and issues raised during the planning process. This stage also includes the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) checklist that describes environmental effects of the plan recommendations.

4. Propose final recommendations for Commission adoption. Final adjustments are made and the recommendations referred to the seven-member Parks and Recreation Commission for approval. At this stage public testimony and written comment is also welcome at the Commission meeting.

Posner was in the area to encourage citizens to contribute their input relative to long-term plans for both the Bridgeport and Alta Lake park properties.

Posner has scheduled future public workshops from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Bridgeport Elementary School cafeteria on Wednesday, June 12, and at the Pateros Fire Station meeting hall on Thursday, June 13. Those attending will have an opportunity to comment or may submit comments to Posner at 360-902-8671 or email Melinda.posner@parks.wa.gov.

Bridgeport State Park
Bridgeport State Park at 235A Half Sun Way is a 748-acre camping park behind Chief Joseph Dam including 7,500 feet of shoreline along the west side of Rufus Woods Lake. The site includes a nine-hole golf course that was the headquarters for the Lake Wood Golf Club that closed its doors in 2018 due to declining membership.

The park includes 18 acres of lawn, camp sites and two boat ramps with 240-feet of dock giving fishermen access to year-round angling for triploids, walleye, rainbow trout and silvers. Other amenities included sheltered gazebos, barbecue stands, picnic tables, Wi-Fi and four miles of hiking trails among the haystack lava bounders that reflect the area’s turbulent geologic history.

Alta Lake State Park
Alta Lake State Park located 4.3 miles west of Pateros on 1B Otto Road is a 174-acre camping park that includes two-mile-long by half-mile wide Alta Lake. The area was burned over by the 2014 Carlton Complex wildfire and is in a state of recovery, replanting and restoration.

To learn more about the CAMP project as it relates to Alta Lake and Bridgeport state parks, visit parks.state.wa.us/1148/Alta-Lake-and-Bridgeport-CAMP.