Popular Brannan Island park, campground now fully reopened, spruces up for visitors

Nine months after closing and reopening months later, weekends only, one of the most affordable freshwater recreation, boating, and campgrounds in the Bay Area has fully reopened, awaiting visitors itching to get outside after many days of torrential rainstorms.

Located north of Antioch and south of Rio Vista, Brannan Island State Recreation Area is part of a maze of waterways and marshes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta that has long been popular for boating, fishing, swimming and camping.

And though its picnic tables and campsites, surrounded by mighty oaks and towering eucalyptus trees, are now empty, Clint Elsholz, Acting Superintendent of the State Diablo Range District, knows the park will soon fill up.

“There has been a sharp increase in visitor numbers to the parks (since the pandemic),” said Elsholz, who oversees the 336-acre site. “People want to be outside, so I expect the campsites will be very popular in the summer.”

Last March, American Land & Leisure, which has operated the park since 2013, chose not to renew its lease with State Parks and effectively closed the park, much to the dismay of its longtime users. Elsholz said park officials made efforts to reallocate workers and reopen the popular boat launch last June, but only on weekends, while they searched for a concessionaire to replace the Utah property management company.

Elsholz thanked the public for their patience while waiting for a new operator. He added that he was “excited about the new partnership” with Park Delta Bay of Isleton to bring camping and day-use opportunities back to Brannan Island. Reservations for the 136 campgrounds — both tent and RV sites in five different areas and one rustic cabin — began being taken earlier this year.

Park Delta Bay operates an RV and tiny house resort just down the road about six miles from the Brannan Island State Recreation Area, and Esholz said he believes the company would do well to restore the state recreation area , which opened in 1952.

“He (owner Eric Chiu) has a vision,” Elsholz said, noting that the addition of a bait shop — the first ever on the site — should be a welcome convenience for visitors.

Hap’s Bait and Tackle, a longtime Rio Vista store, was recently forced to close and will reopen in the park.

“He (Chiu) is going to bring it into the park as part of the experience, and that’s the kind of vision that’s going to get people out,” Elsholz said. “It’s pretty exciting. It’s something locals care about.”

Chiu could not be reached for comment, but his park managers Chris and Billie Logan, who are doing a lot of hands-on work to brush up the park, were optimistic about its future, saying it was “the first job getting the bait shop up and running.” to take business.” Chris Logan estimated it would open “in a couple of weeks.”

The couple managed the park for three years before leaving last spring, but were excited to return when the new operator was found.

“I came back because I know so much about the park and I knew it was the right time to do things that I felt needed to be done,” said Chris Logan, who is now with his wife lives in the park. “I knew I could make a fresh start and get things going.”

In addition to clearing debris, landscaping and other minor maintenance, Logan said the park needs to clean up the beach in the Seven Mile Slough area for the summer, when operators expect to add lifeguards and paddle boats for rent. The beach will be a big draw, he said.

“People always come in and say, ‘Where’s the beach?’ ‘ added Logan. “It’s tidal. There is no beach at low tide, there is one at low tide.”

Elsholz said the beach has become overgrown with weeds over the years, but park officials are working to clean it up.

“We have some Himalayan blackberries that wormed their way in there that we want to take out and expand on,” he said of the beach. “There will still be room to swim – I don’t think we’ll need dredging – but we will be doing some vegetation management at the site.”