Friends of China Camp

With the goal of improving access for all, several new projects are underway at China Camp. Spearheaded and implemented by the California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), the work focuses on renovating restrooms, improving access to our museum, and upgrading handicap parking sites. Additional work is also slated this spring to make ADA-compliant improvements to Shoreline Trail, from Miwok Meadows to our campground. Altogether, these welcome upgrades will continue to make China Camp State Park an outstanding outdoor destination for visitors with mobility challenges.

DPR broke ground on the project last November, and, in spite of wicked winds and torrential rains, progress is going well. First to get upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are a trio of restrooms in the Back Ranch Meadows Campground. For safety reasons, sites in the lower campground area have been closed since the project began, but all campsites are expected to be open again by mid-May.

Another target for renovation has been the restroom at the end of the parking lot at China Camp Village. But, rather than upgrading the existing building, the decision was made to completely raze the old structure to make way for an all-new, ADA-compliant building. Construction should be completed by the end of this summer or early fall.

China Camp Village has other locations that are getting ADA and safety upgrades. Work has begun on assuring ADA-compliant access to our outdoor deck and museum. The DPR project will also replace the two existing gravel-surfaced handicap parking sites with more permanent concrete pads, and areas of the village’s wooden deck will be repaired.

“While these construction zones at both ends of the park present operational disruptions, Friends of China Camp deeply appreciates this major investment by DPR in the park’s facilities,“ says FOCC Executive Director Martin Lowenstein. “It will truly enhance how we serve the community.”

—by FOCC staff