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<br />§ Existing day-use improvements – are provided at Stampede
<br />Pass Bridge and the USFS’s former Crystal Springs Campground
<br />facilities, P&RC’s Lake Easton State Park, BPA’s Easton Acclimation
<br />Ponds, P&RC’s Bullfrog Road South Access, WDFW’s Teanaway
<br />Junction Access in the Upper Canyon; Ellensburg KOA and
<br />Ellensburg’s Irene Rinehart Riverfront Park in the Kittitas Valley;
<br />and WDFW’s Ringer Loop Road South Access, private Big Horn
<br />Campground, BLM’s Umtanum, Lmuma Creek, Big Pines, and Roza
<br />Campgrounds in the Lower Canyon.
<br />§ Proposed day-use improvements – including picnic tables and
<br />toilets are to be provided at WDFW’s King Horn Slough-Hundley
<br />Road in the upper river reaches, WDFW’s Thorp/Green Bridge in the
<br />Kittitas Valley segment, and WDOT’s Mile Post 20/19 in the Lower
<br />Canyon.
<br />§ Proposed new site day-use improvements – including picnic
<br />tables, shelters, and toilets are to be included at Suncadia Bullfrog
<br />Road Bridge and Old Church Camp Access in the upper river
<br />reaches, Swauk Creek Access in the Upper Canyon, and Kittitas
<br />County Thrall Road/Wilson Creek before the Lower Canyon.
<br />
<br />Camping
<br />Camping facilities for tents and recreational vehicles (RV) are
<br />currently provided along the river at public and private access sites
<br />at Lake Easton, Ellensburg, and the Lower Canyon. The
<br />campgrounds are multi-use sites providing wildlife viewing, fishing,
<br />wading, swimming, boating, picnicking, hiking, and other activities
<br />of interest. The following facilities may not be sufficient to
<br />accommodate projections of resident and tourist populations likely
<br />to be interested in camping along the river corridor:
<br />
<br />§ Existing public campgrounds – include P&RC’s Lake Easton
<br />State Park that provides wet and dry tent and RV campsites, and
<br />BLM’s Umtanum, Lmuma Creek, Big Pines, and Roza Campgrounds
<br />in the Lower Canyon that provide dry tent and RV campsites only.
<br />P&RC and BLM campgrounds are developed to site capacity.
<br />§ Existing private campgrounds – include KOA in Ellensburg that
<br />provides wet and dry tent, RV, and cabins, and Bighorn
<br />Campground in the Lower Canyon that provides dry tent and RV
<br />campsites. Both sites should be monitored in the event either or
<br />both should come up for sale.
<br />
<br />Hunting
<br />Kittitas County provides diverse opportunities for hunting a wide
<br />range of game including waterfowls, upland birds, rabbits, coyote,
<br />deer, elk, bear, and bighorn sheep in the appropriate seasons and
<br />with the proper permits. Hunters stage excursions into public and
<br />some private lands water and land trails that extend outwards from
<br />a number of public access sites including:
<br />
<br />§ USFS, Nature Conservancy, and Suncadia lands – for ducks,
<br />deer, and elk in the upper river reaches that are accessible from
<br />Stampede Pass Bridge and the U-Fish Road/NF-4823 Road on the
<br />Yakima River, and Pedestrian Bridge and Old Winston Bridge Site on
<br />the Cle Elum River.
<br />§ Yakima River – for ducks and other waterfowl on the streams,
<br />wetlands, and ponds adjacent to the river from Ellensburg KOA,
<br />Kittitas County’s Hanson Pits/Tjossem Ditch, WDFW’s Ringer Loop
<br />Road South Access, BLM’s Ringer Loop Road North, WDFW’s Ringer
<br />Loop Road South, and Kittitas County’s proposed Thrall
<br />Road/Wilson Creek Access.
<br />§ WDFW lands – for upland birds, deer, and elk on the western
<br />ridgelines in the Lower Canyon that access trails and Green Dot
<br />Roads in the Wenas and LT Murray Wildlife Areas from BLM’s
<br />Umtanum, Lmuma Creek, Big Pines, and Roza Campgrounds –
<br />particularly by way of the existing suspension bridge at Umtanum
<br />Campground and potentially by way of the proposed suspension
<br />bridge across the river at Big Pines Campground.
<br />§ Private lands – for upland birds, deer, and bighorn sheep on
<br />the eastern ridgelines on private Eaton Ranch property managed by
<br />Red’s Fly Shop.
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