Gust Backstrom City Park — Attraction in Morton

This will be long. First the positives:

This park is totally beautiful and in a superb location on WA 7, just off 12. They have an on-site host and some RV FHU (30 amp), several W/E hookups (most 30 amp, some 50). There are also FCFS tent camping sections, a covered picnic area, event center, children's playground and day use availability. There's good fishing and a great swimming hole on the river. Most patrons keep their pets on leash and clean up after them. A Saturday Farmers Market is just across the street.

As with everything, there are also negatives.

The RV sites are totally unlevel. Using every block we have could not resolve it completely. The electrical is scary. The front pedestals do not include breakers and took considerable "wiggling" to achieve a solid connection.

Here the biggest problem is the lack of rules posted to their website or signage around the park. One host cannot be in multiple places at the same time. We were here for a week including July 4. There were well over 100 people in the park. Even with the signs "No Fireworks" people were shooting them off both at the entry and in the back of the park and the host was running trying to stop them and keep up with all coming in and not registering/paying for sites. By Saturday the dumpsters and toilet facilities were overflowing. There were campers with radios and music blasting into the wee hours. The neighbors were the worst problem shooting fireworks until after midnight some nights (yes, that's multiple). The building with showers and toilets was "closed for repairs" and locals told me it's been that way for some time and a repeated problem. At this point the 2 flush toilets at the front are the only ones working for anyone and no showers. With over 50 campers now, there is generally a line waiting.

I was told by a local that updating and renovating work is scheduled for next year. That will help.

Suggestions:

Make use of the museum and gazebo on site. A confirmation email when preregistering is VERY helpful. In our case it would have resolved a misunderstanding we cleared upon arrival. Post quiet hours on the website as well as day use hours and check in/out times, with park signage and with handouts when people register. At one point 5 day users were parked in the front RV FHU sites. Day users often just park and walk to the river while the host is busy in another area of the park. Limit the number of vehicles and people for each reservation and include it on the calendar for them, number of day use people (with signage Day Use Only reserving spaces so they can park) and running total number in the park at any one time. In the unlikely event of an evacuation, these numbers will be invaluable. People should be advised to be respectful and not to walk through others' campsites.

I know that's a lot, but it might make it easier to hire and keep hosts as well as a better run and enjoyable park to visit. We've been to hundreds of parks across the country and are sure this could be a jewel if better maintained...

Management was for the most part courteous and accommodating. I did observe the hosts yelling at other campers a couple of times, but I've worked in campgrounds with entitled inconsiderate campers. It is a thankless, difficult job. I don't know what the issues were. Possibly they deserved it. The one time she got angry with me I had gone against her wishes. We were there 10 days August 2022. We were there that long out of an unexpected personal necessity. The park is beautiful with old trees and the river has several fun swimming holes. On Saturdays during the summer a small Farmer's Market is set up right next door. They don't water the grass. It's brown, but there is a water shortage so I believe that is good stewardship. They have a better than average dump station, a large playground and a covered pavilion. Most RV sites have water and electric. I did not use the restrooms so cannot speak to their condition. There were several Port-a-potties placed around as well. They do not have dog stations with poo bags but we dog owners should all carry our own anyway. Park backs up to a saw mill so sirens go off at different times day and night but not so much that it was a problem. The mill's spotlight very brightly illuminates a good portion of the campground all night. If I had been in one of those sites it would have been annoying. There is a lot of trash around. I used pickers and disposed of approx 7 lbs of mostly micro trash. (I follow Leave No Trace principles.) The dumpsters overflowed by Friday afternoon and the week I was there they were not emptied for several days after the weekend. Unfortunately down by the river was full of beer cans and bottles (some broken), cigarette butts, dog feces and discarded dirty diapers, straws, drink boxes and other picnic detritus. Friday and Saturday it is packed and noisy. During the week very serene and peaceful. Enforcement is non-existent, at least on weekends, of rules to include # of vehicles, people or tents per site, dogs on leash, owners picking up dog poo, quiet hours after 10 (by 2:00 am Friday and Saturday it was quiet), driving speed and one-way direction of traffic in campground around unsupervised children running, biking and scooting everywhere without paying attention to their surroundings, loud use of very foul language, copious amounts of alcohol, fire pits full of cigarette butts, broken glass, melted plastic and charred drink cans. I observed 2 fires not in a designated pit and there were local burn restrictions. Would I go back? Yes, but not on a weekend. Would I recommend it? Yes, with some caveats and not...

Why do we keep coming back? The staff, the location, and the campsite. It's so very close to a 5 star campground. Thank you Morton for this valuable resource!

The good/great: The staff is very helpful and accomidating. Reasonably priced. Great location. Morton is between Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens. Both are great day trips. Visiting Ape Caves southeast of Mount St Helens is also possible. Hiking, fishing, hunting and nature site seeing are available any direction you drive. It's a nice stop-over before or after crossing White Pass. Starlink and TMobile both work good. Morton has 2 gas stations, a hardware store, Dollar General, a small grocery store and Papa Bear normally has great food and great pies. Morton has laundry and a small town sized hospital. The park has a dump. There are 50 amp with water/sewer, 30 amp with water and tent campsites. Next to a small river with fishing and swiming. A nice sized open field and day use facilities. Very dog friendly.

The bad, no one's fault: There is a lumber yard behind the park with a loud whistle and large equipment running at least 2 shifts. Fishing at the river sometimes means fishermen walking through your campsite on their way to/from the river. This can be very early in the morning (4am).

The bad, city's fault: The 50 amp full service sites are at the front, right across from the dump and day use. These sites are basically a gravel parking lot and made for RV's that probably have 30 amp service. A 30 foot RV might stick out to far. The 30 amp sites are situated on a paved loop, some next to the river. Most of these sites can fit large to huge RV's, except the sites are just an electric pedistal, water faucet and fire pit. You may have to work to find a close to level spot in the grass. There are no RV pads. Various levels of shade from mature trees.

It's really odd how the city designed the campground. Why don't they slowly add gravel pads on the main loop? There is a level, open area south of the restrooms that would be perfect for new 50 amp full service sites; there is already powet, water and sewer available underground in the area. The city budget should allow building 2-3 of these new "premium full service" sites a year. They would be back in, graveled, leveled, and 60-80 foot long to support 44 foot 5th wheel and truck or 40+ foot RV and car. 50 amp, water, sewer, fire pit, and picnic table. Charge $15-20 more than the older sites.

Call the 30 amp sites with a gravel pad "upgraded" and charge 10% more to cover the cost to...