Cama Beach State Park’s opening day bustles with visitors

CAMANO ISLAND — Jeff Wheeler knew opening day at Cama Beach State Park was going to be busy, but even he was pleasantly surprised.

By Thursday afternoon, Wheeler estimated more than 150 people had walked through the 434-acre park on the southwest corner of Camano Island — and most of the people who had reservations to stay overnight in the cabins hadn’t even arrived.

“It’s great — it’s fun not asking people if they saw the big red sign to keep out,” Wheeler said. “A lot of people are exploring today; it’s been wonderful.”

Even as the gates opened, there was still work to be done.

Workers finished up the wood-plank floor and painted doorways in the boathouse as classical music played over a stereo. Volunteers made certain the cabins were ready to use. Up the hill, crews worked on the landscaping around a sign at the park’s entrance. Between the cabins, the lawn is still growing in.

Nancy and Ed Adams of Stanwood washed out a green rowboat near the boathouse, which now houses the Seattle-based Center For Wooden Boats. The park looks much better than it did a few months ago, they said.

“I think it’s turning out real­ly good,” Ed Adams said. “The ranger has been a good coordinator.”

Rae Masseth of Renton was among the first of the overnight visitors to arrive at the new park. Her niece, Melissa Natario of Kent, rented a cabin for their family.

Before making the trip to Camano Island, Masseth read online about some of the history of Cama Beach. She also viewed images of what the beach looked like when it used to be a fishing resort.

On Thursday afternoon, she sat on the porch of her small wooden cabin, soaking in her surroundings and looking out over Saratoga Passage.

“It’s not as rustic, but I think it’s really cool they had this idea,” Masseth said. “I like history, so it’s cool being somewhere where there is history.”

For more than 1,600 years, Cama Beach was a gathering place for American Indian tribes. After the signing of the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855, the beach was turned into a logging camp. Then the site was a ­family-owned fishing resort from 1934 to 1989.

Sisters Sandra Worthington of Olympia and Karen Hamalainen of Bellingham — the granddaughters of the founder of the fishing resort — donated most of the beach property to the state for use as a state park. They sold the remainder of the land to the state for $6.7 million.

Hamalainen was at the park Thursday with cabin reservations through the weekend.

She was ecstatic.

“It’s been 18 years,” she said, referring to how long it took for the property to be converted into a park. “Miracles happen every day.”

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.