DARRINGTON — Equestrian and RV camping is coming to Darrington in mid-2021.
Construction of a campground — including 13 RV campsites, five equestrian campsites, host lodging and a picnic shelter — is under way at the 82-acre Whitehorse Community Park near town.
The RV sites offer septic, power and water hookups. The equestrian campsites, the first of their kind in the county, have 12-by-12-foot corrals and access to a centralized compost bin. Two of the equestrian campsites have full hookups and the rest are tent sites.
Volunteers with the Bellingham-based Timber Framers Guild built a covered picnic shelter for the park last year.
Ultimately, the new campground will provide access for people going to the North Mountain Bike Park just down the road, said Snohomish County Parks & Recreation Interim Planning Supervisor Sharon Swan.
The town of Darrington is currently working to connect the campground to the park with a trail, Swan said.
Whitehorse Park near Darrington, where equestrian campsites are under construction. (Snohomish County)
Eventually, the campground will serve as a stop along the 27-mile Whitehorse trail that starts in Arlington and parallels Highway 530. There’s currently a three-mile gap in that trail, and some areas are closed for repairs.
“In the future, someone could get on the Centennial Trail then to go Arlington and get some serious distance on (the Whitehorse) regional trail,” Swan said. “It’s going to be a great location.”
Phase one of the Whitehorse Park campground cost just shy of $1 million, with the majority of funding coming from the parks construction budget. Phase two, also estimated at around $1 million, will include a restroom building and a tent loop under a stand of mature forest. The department hasn’t secured funding for phase two yet, Swan said. Each loop of the campsite will include a site that meets meets Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
The campground will open in spring at the earliest, Swan said. Meanwhile, there are three ball fields with views of the snow-capped peaks of Whitehorse Mountain.
Julia-Grace Sanders: 425-339-3439; jgsanders@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @sanders_julia.
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