Chelan County buys 18 acres in Plain for future year-round park

Chelan County commissioners on Tuesday purchased 18 acres in Plain across from Plain Hardware and along State Haul Road.

The county purchased the property from G&B Properties East LLC for $1.2 million with plans to develop a year-round park and create a tourism destination away from areas already heavily saturated by visitors, according to a Chelan County news release.

The Plain Valley Ski Trails nonprofit maintains a system of ski trails accessed from the property. The nonprofit is expected to preserve the site under a maintenance and operations agreement with the county, the release stated.

The group also plans to engage residents and other local organizations in designing future year-round amenities for a park on the property. There were no known community meeting times as of Tuesday afternoon.

"When we learned of this potential sale by the property owner and were told it was time sensitive, a steering committee was formed to develop a strategy to secure the land," said Christie Wilder, Plain Valley Ski Trails executive director, in the release. "We approached the county to acquire the land to preserve Plain Valley Ski Trails winter access for the ski trails and to further develop a year-round community park in Plain. We are so pleased with the immediate support from our commissioners."

Funding for the purchase was split between lodging tax revenue and sales tax credit funds the state provides to the county, the release stated.

Commissioners said they hope the property will become a year-round park in the future.

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This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 12:22 PM.