The United States Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Washington developed this park soon after the construction of the Chief Joseph Dam; the dam created Rufus Woods Lake (named in 1952 for an editor of the Wenatchee World newspaper) on which the park was situated. A retired Corpsman, Ralph Van Slyke, began the process of developing the parkland around the lake by himself in the early 1960s. Bridgeport State Park contained 748 acres, including 7,500 feet of lake shoreline. The landscape was dotted with volcanic deposits, known locally as "haystacks." In 2011, the park had 18 acres of lawn, a nine-hole golf course, hiking trails and camping facility.

PCAD id: 16649