Walla Walla July 19th field conditions ?

[DavidGraves]

Greetings all

My wife is a botanist and is scheduled to take a field class for three days around July 19th based in Walla Walla, WA.

We are trying to learn the Covid 19 circumstances in and around Walla Walla but also trying to decide whether there is somewhere to park the FWC in order to avoid the motel/restaurant scene in town.

All insight much appreciated....sooner is better for planning sake.

Many thanks

David Graves

North Oregon Coast

 

[RicoV]

In my experience there are 3 decent options, each with its own pros/cons, each requiring overnight fees.
1) Lewis & Clark State Park, between Waitsburg and Dayton. We stayed there last fall for several nights, not too shabby, has trees, and a river runs through it (Touchet R.)
2) Harris Park, on the OR side of the border, a county-run facility, seemed nice enough on our drive-by; a bit farther from Walla Walla proper than L & C SP is.
3) Blue Valley RV Park on the N end of Walla Walla (W of airport) might've worked for us too, but we wanted to come home to a bonafide 'camp' following the daily rigors of wine-tasting in the area.
You can also find good campgrounds up in the Blue Mtns on the OR side of the border, near the village of Tollgate; the usual U.S. fees apply to those camps. Dispersed camping options in the area are dicey at best.
Good luck, hope you find something that works well enough.
Rico.

 

[LuckyDan]

If you are wanting to be in/close to town, you are limited to the commercial RV campground offerings. Boondocking is available on the Umatilla NF. While you can see the Forest to the east from town, you can’t easily “Get there from here”. Mill Cr Road turns into FS Rd 65 (I think 65) going up Tiger Canyon from town, though it’s a ways to the USFS line. The other main portals are up to Tollgate as mentioned, or around to Waitsburg or Dayton. From Milton Freewater you can go up one of the forks of the Walla Walla River, (South Fork IIRC) to some BLM that ends at a trailhead. That’s not what I’d consider close either. After that it’s what you can poach off the COE properties up/over on the Snake and Columbia Rivers, again not close.

Other than that and the current environment, it is a nice place to visit.
Good Luck....

 

[DavidGraves]

Thanks to you both....

Any local knowledge on the Covid19 conditions "in town" Walla Walla ?

Wife is attending a class with some lab time and then some field time each day.

DG

 

[searching for nowhere]

I have no local knowledge but following are some links. You will see Walla Walla has a relatively low number of Covid19 cases. But it is next to the Tri-Cities and close to Yakima - both of which are having a high rise in cases. Washington state infections per day are now higher than they were in the past. A lot of the increase is east of the Cascades.

https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/NovelCoronavirusOutbreak2020COVID19/DataDashboard

https://coronavirus.wa.gov/es/node/1556

 

[DavidGraves]

Yes....hmmm.