With Straddleline Park, formerly known as the Grays Harbor ORV Park, back open as of July 1, Grays Harbor and Thurston counties are collaborating on ways to capitalize on the park’s possibilities.
The park, aptly named as it straddles the county border line in McCleary north of Capitol State Forest, had been closed since 2023 due to Grays Harbor County not renewing its lease. The closure was intended to allow for safety assessments, strategic planning and park improvements. For many years, the park was leased for small events such as motocross and off-road vehicle races, concerts and camps.
Commissioners and staff from the neighboring counties met Wednesday at The Atrium in Olympia to discuss the future of Straddleline Park, including upgrades to camping amenities and the possibility of an eco-adventure park.
Vickie Raines, Grays Harbor commissioner, described the park as a “fairly blank canvas” that the jurisdictions can work together to build. Grays Harbor County invested in upgrading 155 camping spots in the park ranging in amenities based on location, and camping is open this summer with an online-reservation platform. The county also changed the name of the park as it will not feature motocross racing anymore.
“Even with just the camping that we have and access to the Capitol Forest, it’s been a hit,” Sam Kim, Grays Harbor County administrator, said. “We chose to change the name because we’re not having the motocross racing anymore for many reasons. We want to be very intentional and very careful and thoughtful about what we introduce into the park.”
Raines added that the decision was due to insurance and liability reasons.
Leonard Hernandez, Thurston County manager, noted that some of the park’s strengths lie in its open space, recreation, economic opportunity, location off Interstate 5, and eco-friendly focus. He described Straddleline Park as a “one-of-a-kind asset” in Washington that could draw people in regionally “if developed right.” The park has 12.5 miles of hiking trails within the park grounds available for hikers and mountain bikers.
Now that the park and the majority of its trails are open, both counties are looking to answer visitors’ questions of what they can do while in the park.
“Now we’re looking for that next step. How do we promote our trail systems? Because we’ve got the park open, but people need something to do when they’re there, and that’s the only real complaint that we’ve had,” Mark Cox, Grays Harbor County director of utilities, facilities and community development, said. “So now we’re talking about e-bikes and bringing those to the park. That’s kind of an untapped resource that really could have a big draw, and a disc golf course and really starting to promote the hiking.”
With the decision not to continue with motocross racing, Grays Harbor County is considering options for the motocross track. Cox said the next step is to potentially transform the track into more of a multi-use space for festivals and/or concerts, calling it a “natural amphitheater" with a backdrop of trees and forests.
“When you combine that with the availability of camping, now you’re talking about the festival dynamic, which is a multi-day [event],” Hernandez said. “You’re able to charge higher ticket prices and get more amenities in there, which ultimately means that someone that’s going to be promoting that, their ability to make additional revenue goes through the roof. How do we take this asset and create opportunities so that it can feed itself, and we can take the dollars that are created, reinvest them into the park and continue to beautify it?”
Hernandez said county staff have kicked around the idea of Straddleline Park evolving into an eco-adventure park, which is a recreational space that blends outdoor adventure activities with a strong focus on environmental sustainability and education. Activities in an eco-adventure park might include hiking and nature trails, zip lines, ropes courses, canopy tours, eco-friendly lodging or camping, water activities like kayaking or paddleboarding, educational programs and recreational tours on rented bikes or all-terrain vehicles. Hernandez also mentioned horseback riding, dirt bike riding and fishing possibilities in the future.
“Obviously, it may not start from day one, but setting the ground for the ability to have some of the amenities that are listed there we think is very much within the realm of possibility,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said the high aspirations shared by both counties wouldn’t necessarily have to be completely covered by county dollars. Additional collaboration opportunities, he said, could come from the Washington state Department of Natural Resources, the Washington state Recreation and Conservation Office, nearby cities and tribes, as well as state legislators and other investors. Funding could also come from grants, public-private partnerships and congressional funding requests.
Both county commissions closed the meeting by directing their respective staffs to begin work on an interlocal agreement between the counties about the possibilities of profit sharing, cost sharing and jointly asking for grants. They also gave direction to begin scoping out a market study, conversations about designing a narrative for marketing purposes and to begin connections with potential partners to analyze potential interest.
