Lake Tapps Park — Attraction in Bonney Lake

Lake Tapps itself is a stunning lake. The way it is managed is far less than appropriate. I went to the lake twice, once on a Friday and again on Sunday. Friday was quite pleasant as you would expect with any lake park. Sunday on the other hand was a whole different story. On Sunday there were two Pierce County Sheriffs who were running the park, rather than the traditional Parks Dept. folks. There was a Parks Dept. employee taking money from folks for parking. The initial Sherriff was pleasant and let my friend who was towing a boat into the park. My buddy waited five minutes for my family and I to walk up from the school down the street where we parked as parking at the lake was a premium. Once we met with my friend, we drove toward the check stand where we were greeted not by the Parks employee, but by a SWAT team Corporal in a K9 vehicle. We just wanted to pay our $7.00, launch the boat, and park. The first thing he did was accuse us of bypassing the initial Sheriff, which was simply not possible based on how they had the entrance configured. We assured him we did not, but that didn’t seem to satiate his enforcement lust. He directed us to turn around and leave the park but said we could launch the boat and park off-site for $7.00. We opted to turn around and leave. As we were leaving, we drove through the trailer parking area and found there were three spots open. When we made the turn, he had zipped up next to us in his K9 vehicle. At that point he became even more uncouth and aggressive. We attempted to tell him that we’d like to check with the Parks Attendant and see if we could take one of the three open slots, since we were let in past the initial Sherriff and believe we’d be treated like every other vehicle that was let in. He wouldn’t let us finish our sentence and in an overly aggressive tone and mannerisms he escalated his voice as he continued repeating “you mean you’re going to leave the park, right?”, becoming louder each time. The three children that were in the car with us, ages five, seven, and thirteen, were frightened and when we left were confused and confounded about why the Police would act like that. I was also confused. I was confused about why the SWAT team is running Lake Tapps Park on the weekend rather than the Parks Department. I was confused about why he targeted my Vietnamese friend. I was confused about why he was overly aggressive. And more than anything I was saddened that three young kids that have looked up to Law Enforcement were sadly let down on that Sunday by what I hope was a rogue...

We used to visit Lake Tapps park every year. This Sunday we went there to celebrate our friend’s birthday. We came there with 4 kids, inflatable paddle boards, our own tables and tent. At 7:35 a park employee came up to us and informed that the park is closing at about 30 minutes, so we need to start packing.

We started packing right away. We had 4 cars in the park. While 3 couples gathered their belongings pretty quickly, the 4th couple, who brought the table and tents didn’t have enough time to fold everything. We decided to drive the 3 cars out of the park and some of us stayed with the 4th car to help with the tent and table. I drove through the gates 8:01 just fine, our other car left the park at ~8:03 also just fine, but the third car with my friend and 2 kids passed the gate at 8:06… and the police officer was extremely aggressive with them, he shouted at her and explained that she is with her kids while he hasn’t seen his kids since 5am, wrote down her license plate number and said to expect $250 fine. She was so deeply socked and scared that didn’t even answer. At 8:07 our 4th car was at the gates - the same. He shouted at them, took license plate number and said to expect the fine. That car was followed by 3 our friends, who were walking and carrying the heavy stuff to save some time on packing it. And flowers ) it was a birthday. My husband was among them. They said that they were sorry, tried to explain that they just stayed to help. The police officer threatened them with jail and also took their names and addresses to send $250 fine each.

Earlier that day, after they announced that the park is closing soon, he came up to some of us in the park and said to expect a surprise at the gates. He could definitely see we don’t have enough time to pack things up. We all left humiliated, upset, devastated and feeling unsafe. Kids were crying and scared. And this is the person who is supposed to protect us? We all pay our taxes, we have never had any fines, we were not rude, we were just 7 minutes late with kids and flowers… and helping one another.

The next day I called to the county, their park department, to understand what is this fine for - they know nothing about it. I called the city - they also know nothing. Event the sheriffs office has no clue about such regulations. My friend called parking enforcement - they refused to comment the situation. There’s no such violation…

We’ll see what happens next. Looks like other people experienced the same...

I usually don't write reviews, but the situation I've experienced during my stay is worth sharing. For starter, I want to say that this park has a stunning view on Mount Rainier, fully equipped bbq areas, and other things you might need during your visit. That is why we chose this place to celebrate my birthday on August 4th, 2019 (I want to mention the exact day we were there). Unfortunately, our evening was ruined by the sheriff's and other officers outrageous behavior. So, on August 4th, we came to this park with our friends (ten adults and four kids to be exact), needless to say, that we had so many things like shelter, tables, chairs, toys, inflatable paddle boards, etc. At 7:30 PM maintenance worker approached us saying that the park would be closed in 30 min. I wish we would know what was going to happen next. We immediately started to pack our belongings, rushing through the park with heavy boxes, tables, etc. Approximately at 7:45 Sheriff started driving around shouting through a speaker that whoever will stay there after 8:00 will face 250$ fine. The sheriff's blatant attempt to scare people worked. I wish we had Hulk or Supermen among our friends, with this sort of help we definitely would pack much faster. Also, during that time, officers were staying next to my car and gazed out at us. Even though we were running and doing everything as quickly as possible, we left at 8:07. To my surprise, we met sheriff who closed the gate right in front of us. He approached our car and started to yell! He was shouting that he didn't see his family for fourteen hours and because of us he needed to stay 7! minutes longer! That we should expect a "little surprise in the amount of 250$ " in the mail. Politely, I asked him to explain the situation and clarify what kind of fine we should expect and for what, he refused to answer on my question and furiously said: "to get the f**k out from this park." Drunk with power, sir? I can understand that sometimes people have a bad day, but this kind of behavior is outraging. Not only he yelled at us, but he scared kids! My friends also shared their experience and I don't want to repeat their words.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, sheriff!! I will never forget how rude, impolite, and aggressive Police...