Two yurts at Mosquito prove to be successful

September 9, 2010 at 12:06a.m.

By ED RUNYAN

WARREN

Trumbull County Commissioner Dan Polivka and several state officials are celebrating the successful completion of a project at Mosquito Lake State Park that Polivka introduced in 2008.

Polivka said he discovered that Pymatuning State Park in Ashtabula County offered a type of permanent tent called a yurt — a circular, 16-foot-diameter, 8-foot-high canvas tent on a wooden platform.

A yurt usually comes furnished with convertible futon beds and bunks, table and chairs, minirefrigerator or cooler and internal electricity outlets.

Polivka decided to seek out a way to enjoy camping at Mosquito in Bazetta Township for people who don’t want to sleep in a traditional tent or recreational vehicle. Polivka and his daughter enjoyed the Pymatuning yurt, so the commissioner proposed that something like it should be available at Mosquito Lake State Park, which does not have cabins or the like.

“I feel it would be great for Trumbull County, to pop in over the weekend and not have to set up,” he said. He called it camping with “the comforts of home.”

Last spring, the state park system constructed two yurts close to the lake in the campground, and the yurts have been very successful.

Ray Best, an employee at the check station at the Hoagland-Blackstub entrance to the park, said the yurts have been rented every night since they first became available in the spring. They cost $45 per night plus hotel/motel fees.

“They all say they’ll come back,” Best said of those who have rented the yurts, which sleep six and come with a gas grill and picnic table.

“They like being on the water, and they all comment on how nice it is to have that big gas grill to cook on,” Best said, adding that he thinks it’s likely that additional yurts will be constructed in the park to accommodate the demand.

Pymatuning, which is about 25 miles northeast of Mosquito Lake State Park, has three yurts, 27 deluxe cabins and 30 standard cabins.

At a dedication ceremony last week, Polivka thanked Sean Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and other state park officials for making the project come to fruition.

He also thanked Doug Lyons, Mosquito Lake State Park manager, and his staff for their assistance in constructing the yurts to keep the cost down.