The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

POMEROY-Area anglers have been pulling in some big ones at the freshly stocked lakes just past the Last Resort campgrounds, located at 2005 Tucannon Road. But fishing is just one of many activities outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy along the Tucannon as the weather warms. The Last Resort is just two miles from eight stocked lakes, the Tucanon River and hiking trails.

The Towery's moved from a small farming community in Aumsville, Ore. and purchased the park in 2013. They are starting their sixth season as operators.

"We enjoy the beautiful office we get to work in every day and meeting so many people. Jason was a superintendent for a construction company in Salem, Ore. He worked out of and stayed in an RV so it was something we started looking into when our last daughter was graduating. We found this park and it was history," Cheri said.

Our son Shawn moved up to the Tucannon a year after us and works for us. He does the maintenance of the park and also works in the store. Our two daughters, Sasha and Shayla, live in Oregon and each have daughters. Olivia (6) and Saylor (2) love to come visit Mimi and Papa's," she added.

The campground offers five deluxe cabins, one camping cabin, 20 full hook-ups, 12 water/power sites and five tent sites.

"We can accommodate big rigs as we have some 50 amp 70-foot sites, and all of our site are pull-through, except one. We also offer dry storage, with daily and monthly rates, which has been popular lately for people that want to come up on the weekends and not haul their trailers back and forth," Cheri said.

The campground also boasts a well-stocked convenience store complete with a deli and espresso bar. Hunting and fishing licenses are available for purchase and cold storage is available to store game that comes in during hunting season.

"The store is full of anything you may need or have forgotten to bring. Groceries, beer, wine, tobacco, ice, wood, gas, propane, apparel and fishing and hunting gear," Cheri said.

The Towery's are big supporters of youth fishing and hunting events.

"We put on the Youth Turkey Clinic every spring, which is a huge hit and also are involved in the Forest Service Kids Fish Free fishing event coming up June 9 at Rainbow Lake. We are also a sponsor for the statewide fishing derby which started Sat., April 27 and runs through Oct. 31. The State plants tagged fish in statewide lakes – Blue and Watson in our area – and whoever catches a tagged fish calls the number to find out where to go for their prize," Cheri said.

Cheri said that Spring and Blue Lakes are open all year long. Rainbow, Deer, Watson and Big Four, which is a fly-fishing only lake, open on March of each year.

"The WDFE start stocking before the opener and re-stock usually every two weeks, though June. Spring and Blue get a fall stocking in October, too," Cheri said.

The lakes and primitive campgrounds 1-11 are state-run and the United States Forest Service operates the guard station, Tucannon, LadyBug and Panjab camping areas. A WDFW vehicle access pass, that is included with a fishing and/or hunting license, or a Discover Pass is required to park at the State campgrounds or lakes.

One of Last Resort opening events each season is the Youth Turkey Clinic, which took place April 7this year.

"Thanks to our volunteers we are able to provide educational classes to kids ages 6-15 who also get hands-on fun at a BB gun shoot, archery course and shotgun shoot," Cheri said. "Puget Sound Energy has provided the barbeque lunch for our event the past two years, which helps tremendously."

The Towery's said the event is made possible by a large group of volunteers including: Officer Mossman from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Anne Walsh from Puget Sound Energy, Bill Dowdy from the Pomeroy Ranger District, and the Blue Mountain Archers. Sponsors, including Griggs in the Tri-Cities, Gunarama Wholesale, Frito Lay, North 40, Sportsman's Warehouse and the Blue Mountain Archers donate items so that every child ends up with a prize.

"We hold the event every year on the Sunday of the youth turkey opener. We post it on our website and Facebook pages and, of course, in the store. It's the 12th year and we get a lot of return families. We have normally had about 40 kids, but with the poor weather this year, we had 24," Cheri said.

Cheri said they open the store the last weekend of February and close mid-December. They enjoy spending time in the winter visiting family in Oregon or finding the sun in Mexico.

"We are lucky to have a couple of employees who help us out in the winter and our neighbors, the original campground owners, live behind us so we always have someone watching the place for us," Cheri said.