MarDon Resort on the shores of Potholes Reservoir in the Central Washington desert is now big rig friendly, with the addition of a new section for large RVs. This section has 21 pull-through and four easy back-in sites, all with 50-amp service, and water and sewer connections. Each site has a lake view and free Wi-Fi service.
MarDon Resort wraps around the southwest corner of Potholes Reservoir, a 28,000-acre lake in a recreational region that has 300 days of sunshine a year. The resort includes a marina, boat rentals, cottages, a motel, restaurant and store, along with sites for RVs and tent camping. RVers who want to bring along friends who don’t have an RV can invite their friends to stay in a camper cabin or one of MarDon’s RVs.
Potholes Reservoir is just south of Moses Lake in Grant County and was created by construction of the nation’s longest earthen dam—the 3.5-mile O’Sullivan Dam. A surveying mistake in 1952 when the reservoir was being filled left a long narrow piece of property above the water, and that became the site of the MarDon Resort. The resort is owned by the Meseberg family, which has been on the site since 1972 and is now in its third generation of management. The family has constantly changed and improved the resort over the years, and their message to RVers today is: “We would like to welcome your family to experience our slice of heaven.”
The resort is in a high desert oasis rich in recreational opportunities with boating, fishing and water sports at the reservoir and numerous nearby lakes. And the landscape itself is interesting. The Columbia Basin Plateau was formed by prehistoric lava flows and ice age floods, leaving channeled scablands and basalt columns that can be viewed today. In the canyon below the reservoir, water that seeped through the dam has filled low spots with water, creating small lakes. There are now 70 named lakes that are either managed by Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife or are part of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge.
Potholes Reservoir and nearby lakes abound with great fishing for rainbow trout and warm water species such as bass, walleye, catfish, perch, crappie and bluegill. Hiking and bird watching are other popular activities. You can learn more about tourist activities at tourgrandcounty.com, more about the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge at fws.gov/refuge/Columbia and more about MarDon Resort at mardonresort.com.
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