Welcome to Transformation Tuesday! There are a lot of exciting projects that the Transformation Team is working on. One of the projects, led by the Relevancy Committee, is the expansion of cabins at Angel Island, Calaveras Big Trees, Big Sur, Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Prairie Creek Redwoods and Patrick’s Point state parks.
We are happy to announce that four cabins, such as the one displayed above, have been added at each of the following state parks – Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Prairie Creek Redwoods and Patrick’s Point.
Why is this an important accomplishment? Parks are essential to the well-being of people. Creating new opportunities to use cabins expands and enhances access for a broader range of park users and promotes California’s state park system statewide and nationally.
The road to accomplish this task has not been easy. While the California Department of Parks and Recreation (Department) has several cabin development initiatives going at this point in time, all have proven to be difficult to implement on many different levels, hampering the completion of these projects. The good news is that the North Coast Cabin Project represents a successful and proven model for the integration of cabins into a given park environment. This cabin project could serve as a roadmap to cabin development within existing campgrounds in the state parks system.
These projects are highly successful because they worked with the sites and took advantage of existing infrastructure within the parks in which they were placed.
The Department’s investment is expected to be quickly recouped in less than five years and is expected to provide revenue generation opportunities over the life of the cabins. By repeating this formula, it is anticipated that an even greater cost saving can be realized on future projects by using the information and process developed with the North Coast Project. This has the potential to supplement the Department’s overall cabin initiatives and could help the Department to offer a systemwide, affordably-priced cabin experience to our visitors at a reasonable capital investment.
The California Department of Parks and Recreation has added 28 alternative camping units in 2015 and 2016 bringing the total to 178 for cabins, yurts, tent cabins, cottages, trailers and float-in sites statewide. There is now, alternative camping, including hotel, conference center and group cabin lodging, offered in 27 parks from Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park near the Oregon Border to Anza Borrego Desert State Park in the South. More are in the planning stage.
Next Periscope Broadcast
Have you ever seen the desert come alive at night? Join Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area on a hunt for glowing scorpions tonight at 9 pm PST on Periscope (and via our Twitter feed)
Follow California State Parks on Periscope and Twitter @CAStateParks #InventYourAdventure
Reminders
- Stay abreast of the Transformation Team’s progress on their website.
- The Transformation Team is interested to know your ideas, thoughts and comments. Let us know what you think.
- Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook and stay updated on #TransformationTuesdays!
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