Whitcomb Creek Park Is Getting An Expansion

Whitcomb Creek will close for repairs and renovations in October, but we’re so excited about the changes we’ve been making to it that we want to make sure you know about it now.

The Whitcomb Creek campground is located on Green Peter Reservoir. Prior to the work we’ve done over the course of last year, there was a 4-unit campground there. Now it’s more than doubled to approximately 90 sites.

Many of the campsites sit above the lake with great views. The sites are deep, and many of them are quite large. Some of them are doubles, where people can camp back-to-back with other groups of campers. A trail in the park leads to a boat ramp, so there’s direct access to the lake from the park. The expansion has also created a large group camping area that can accommodate close to 100 people or six to 10 RVs. The newly expanded Whitcomb Creek is a great base camp location to access forest service trails to the Middle Fork Wilderness as well as Quartzville Creek, designated as a Wild and Scenic River.

Whitcomb Creek Park’s campground has been available to users this summer as part of our “soft opening” as we completed the additional work. Park visitors can check out and enjoy the park as it is now, and know that the work will soon be done!

As of now, the campsites are mostly complete but are missing some amenities such as the picnic table pads, cooking grates and landscaping. This fall we’ll finish off the construction of the sites themselves, adding in the missing table pads and fire rings.

The park is a wonderful resource in summertime, as it is located right on the reservoir. Surrounded by large trees, it offers a lot of shade and the feel of being in a lush Oregon forest. Green Peter is a large reservoir–it’s one of the largest reservoirs in the Willamette Valley–and provides excellent access to fishing and water sports. Fishers of kokanee can be hard pressed to find a better spot.

The park itself closes in the fall (October) but Green Peter Reservoir is accessible year-round. Fishermen in the area know that no matter what time of year of it is, Green Peter is a great spot for fishing all year-round. Anglers and boaters can access the reservoir from the Thistle Creek Boat Ramp, which is just prior to Whitcomb Creek approximately 10 miles from the intersection of Highway 20 and Quartzville Road.

The additional campsites were designed in response to a change made by the US Army Corps of Engineers. A few years ago they closed many dispersed campsites along Quartzville Road, which parallels Whitcomb Creek. The Whitcomb Creek expansion opens up many new sites to alleviate some of the lack of access that occurred when those other campsites were closed.

These expansions are exciting, but they aren’t the only things we have planned! Future expansions include yurts and cabins in the park, which will provide opportunities for more diverse experiences for campers, whether they are tent campers or RV campers. Showers and restroom buildings are also planned.

Stay tuned for more updates and the work continues. And we encourage you to check out Whitcomb Creek Park and see these improvements for yourself!