Use of Grant PUD recreation facilities rises
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Left to right, Sandy Purkey, Mike Auslund, and Connor Richer relax on the beach beside the water near Crescent Bar Recreation Area outside of Quincy on Tuesday afternoon.
Boaters head for open waters of the Columbia River from the Crescent Bar boat launch in July. The summer season was very busy at recreation facilities owned by the Grant County PUD.
Chase and Jennifer Gutenberg beat the July heat with a beach umbrella at Crescent Bar Recreation Area. Summer 2020 was very busy on recreation sites owned by the Grant County PUD.
EPHRATA — At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Grant County PUD officials anticipated a pretty quiet summer at PUD recreation facilities. Now summer is here, and it’s not quiet.
Shannon Lowry, PUD public lands and recreation manager, said campers attending concerts at the Gorge Amphitheatre normally fill up PUD campgrounds on concert weekends. With all but one concert canceled, Lowry said PUD recreation officials didn’t expect as much demand in summer 2020.
It turns out there are a lot of people who just want to go camping or swimming, take out the boat, or have a picnic.
“We’re busier than we thought we would be a couple of months ago,” she said. “We’re very busy. Very busy.”
Among the PUD’s recreational facilities are campgrounds at Crescent Bar west of Quincy, Jackson Creek and the Buckshot Recreation and Wildlife Area, both near Desert Aire. The utility also operates Sand Hollow Recreation Area just upstream from Wanapum Dam and the Rocky Coulee Recreation area near Vantage. There’s also a recreation area at Priest Rapids Dam.
“Our campgrounds — they’re full. Almost every weekend, they’re full,” Lowry said. Where reservations are required, campers “are definitely reserving in advance. I believe we are mostly at 100 percent capacity through August,” she said.
Weekdays are not as busy as weekends, but weekday use is up as well.
Boat launches are busy. “They definitely have been busy as the temperatures have warmed up,” Lowry said.
Day use has increased significantly as well.
The coronavirus outbreak led to canceling all the concerts, but it also canceled a lot of other recreation activities — sports events, youth camps, family and class reunions. With a lot of other options unavailable, people are heading for the outdoors.
“We are finding they’re definitely out and about and looking for outdoor recreation options,” Lowry said.
The virus is still lurking, however, and people who use PUD recreation areas are asked to follow the guidelines to combat the disease, wearing a mask and practicing social distancing. Most people have complied, she said.
In most cases where the rules are broken, “It’s just the usual — people parking where they shouldn’t and that sort of thing,” Lowry said.
To maintain social distancing, some campsites have been closed.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
