Kopachuck State Park – Day Use Area
Kopachuck State Park – Day Use Area
Kopachuck State Park selected Bruce Dees & Associates in 2014 to assist the state in creating a master plan for the 109-acre site that would protect park resources, enhance park visitation, comply with applicable state park and land use policies, and create a fiscally sustainable park. Originally, this state park opened in the 1960s for camping, fishing, clam-digging, and picnics. Due to an extensive problem with laminated root rot discovered in 2011, the park’s campgrounds were shut down. a new amphitheater, nature playground, an event center with a large deck, a visitor center, picnic areas, and trails.
Tree Preservation
The park’s campground was closed as a safety precaution when mature Douglas Fir trees became infected with laminated root rot, and many had to be cut down. Originally, one large Douglas Fir tree next to the deck of the event center was going to be preserved fell during a storm. This created a unique habitat that is defined as a tree snag that can create opportunities for small mammals, birds, and other wildlife. This snag was left to preserve and demonstrate the evolving habitat of the Kopachuck State Park.
Wooden Site Elements
The natural theme of this park is amplified by the wooden playground and a log structure, there are logs installed as steps and retaining wall features. Wooden site elements like the heavy timber framing, railings, lodgepole construction seen throughout the playground, event center, and the amphitheater caters a natural emphasis of the existing environment.
Day Use Area
The site was reopened in August 2025 as a day-use park that features a multipurpose event space, ADA accessible amphitheater, playground, and picnic spaces, and improving pathways across the site to maintain access to the beach. Park visitors are introduced to everything that Washington has to offer, from a dense forest filled with moss and ferns to access to the driftwood strewn beach on Carr Inlet.