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Catalina State Park expected to open Thursday as campers head back to dry land

About 300 campers were stranded at Catalina State Park due to flooding from recent rain storms
Posted at 6:41 AM, Jan 19, 2023
and last updated 2023-01-19 11:10:26-05

ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Nearly 300 campers were stranded at Catalina State Park because of flooding from recent rainstorms.

The park, has been closed since Monday morning after rains caused the Cañada del Oro wash to overflow.
Park rangers say that they are used to flooding during monsoon, but this doesn't happen much with winter rain.

On Wednesday, rangers were helping campers walk across the receding wash to the park’s entrance.

Catalina State Park is working to get the mud cleared by Thursday that way remaining campers can focus on leaving the park.

Park manager Steve Hass says a bridge for the area would solve the problem and they say they have the funding and they are working closely with ADOT.

"it's not the water that stops people— it's the sand. We are in the process of trying to remove all that sand and there's about 5 feet of sand just sitting in the road," said Hass.

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Brooke Chau is a reporter for KGUN 9. She was a part of Fresno State's newscast, Fresno State Focus and interned at KFSN-ABC30 in Fresno, CA before coming to KGUN 9. Share your story ideas and important issues with Brooke by emailing brooke.chau@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.