Okanogan County?

[Heidland]

Hi y'all. There is a good possibility I will be moving from south Cowlitz up to Okanogan County within a couple months (Omak/Tonasket area) for work. That's a part of the state I have little knowledge of. Is there anyone local to that area that can get me up to speed on ranges, shops, and etc? Oh, also possible sources for rental homes until we can sell this place off. Thanks.

 

[Viper84]

I dont know about shooting or gun shops, but I vacation in Oroville a couple times a year on average and love the area. Tonasket is SUPER small. Like "the only stoplight in town" small so depending on what your looking for, you might want to live closer to/in Omak. The cowboy presence/culture in the Okanogan is pretty big so im sure theyll have something for ya.

 

[Heidland]

Thanks Viper, any info is good info. Tonasket has got to be bigger than the little bergs where I live now. Ariel (Yale/Cougar) don't have anything but a post office station. But I-5 is only a 40 minute drive, so I'm guessing that's roughly the drive time round there to "civilization".

 

[One-Eyed Ross]

Well, if you call Omak "civilization" sure, Tonasket is only about 30 minutes or so (it's actually only about 29 miles, if'n I disremember right).

When I was a kid growing up in Omak, we had the only stop light in the county. Now, Omak has three, I think.

As far as shooting, we just went out to the National Forest and found a nice place with a good backstop...not hard to find over there.

Wish I could move back.

 

[Nwcid]

We have a member up that way that I am sure can help.

A range? I believe it is everyones back yard like most very rural places.

Depends on what you define as "civilization". There are lots of towns ~10k people on this side of the state but Spokane is the only real "city" and it is quite a drive from there. Of course there is Yakima but that is almost as far with less to offer.

I have been up that way often for fires and I like it up there. It is a wonderful area.

 

[Oklahomie]

I used to live out in near Carlton and the only "gun shop" that i knew of was ace hardware in Winthrop. There isn't a whole lot out that way but damn if it ain't beautiful though.

 

[Viper84]

I googled and theres a big 5 in Omak. As well as a wal-mart, fast food joints, bars, and nice little downtown area (a couple blocks in either direction). Plus they have the stampede suicide race and carnival every year thats a blast. Omaks not big by any means, but they have more creature comforts than anywhere else in the Okanogan. Like Ross said, there is LOTS of county land to explore and everyone over there speeds like crazy hahaha.

Damn, now I cant wait to get back over there this summer. The Okanogan kicks ***. You'll love it.

 

[EOD]

Big R is the best stocked gun shop up there. There is also a good gun shop in Riverside, but can't recall the name. The Big 5 blows. I was there the other day and they are fully on board with the price inflation. $68.97 for a 100 round pack of 45 WWB.

 

[hermannr]

Hi y'all. There is a good possibility I will be moving from south Cowlitz up to Okanogan County within a couple months (Omak/Tonasket area) for work. That's a part of the state I have little knowledge of. Is there anyone local to that area that can get me up to speed on ranges, shops, and etc? Oh, also possible sources for rental homes until we can sell this place off. Thanks.

Yep, I live up here in the Highlands...mail address is Tonasket even though it is almost 20 miles to town.

City of Tonasket has a couple laws on the books that need to go away, I'm working on that. They are promising me that they will comply with state law.

Tonasket is a nice town. Rents are reasonable, and there are quite a few places for sale that are reasonablely priced too (not right in town, but close) May even be a couple in town, I haven't been looking. I have a house built in 1972, about 1800 square feet, garage/shop, machine shed, garden shed, large storage building, and 10.25 acres of open forest at 3000'...cost us $100k 8 years ago, but the prices haven't moved much since. I do know a nice new cabin up here about the same size, but new, on about the same size property that is for sale for $150k. Anyway, that should give you an idea...(there are $500k places here too if you are more interested in super large)

Gun shops, Daves in Riverside is where I do business, nice place good people, they have reloading supplies, will order new guns but do not carry a lot of new, they do have quite a few used/consignment guns though. BigR in Omak has a big gun store, Al's over by Spectical lake, he had a lot of ARs last time I was there, Murphey's just outside Tonasket up the Havilliah Rd...There are a couple more in Omak, and up here, we do not lack for gun stores.

Ranges, there is a BIG (CMP) range south of Okanogan, there is a range in Omak, the gun club outside Tonasket is $25 a year. and $5 per competitive shoot that you wish to participate in. Locked gate, you get a key with your $25..ask at Al's gun shop about it. There is a range just outside Riverside, ask at Dave's Gun and Pawn in Riverside about it...I think it is $25 a year too. There is a free range west side of the river, just south of Oroville, but I've never been to it. We just shoot up here on our property (as does everyone else)

Unlike Viper, I much prefer Tonasket to Omak, but then that is a personal opinion. It is what you want. Tonasket and Oroville are about 1000 pop. We can purchase 99% of what we want between those two towns. We go to Omak about once every month or two. What we can't obtain in town, we can get on the net. If you are looking for $$$$$$$ lake front property, Oroville is the place...Lake Osoyoos is a nice lake. Just remember this...it gets HOT down in the valley in the summer...up here where we live it never gets really that hot. However, we do get quite a bit of snow up here, so choose your weather preference too. You will find the Okanogan quite dry, and quite warm in the summer, quite cool in the winter.

Okanogan County is very carry friendly, openly or concealed, neither is a problem. You can operate an ATV in several of the small towns and surrounding roads, (Tonasket is working on that one, by the time you get here, you may be able to operate an ORV in Tonasket too) and the county is working on opening up another 69 miles of county road to ORV. Lots of lakes and steams to fish in, lots of NF, State Forest, State wildlife areas and wilderness to hunt on. Miles of ORV trails and roads, miles of horse/hike trails too. Absolutely a great place to live (and for us, to retire to)

 

[hermannr]

maybe I should add. Tonasket has a hospital, and so does Omak/Okanogan (it is in between the two towns) JIC your wife is interested.

PM me if you need anything specific.

Here is a place for sale just outside Tonasket: <broken link removed>

 

[Viper84]

Great info on shops. Whenever im up there im either on property way up by Molson (half hour east of Oroville). And yes, if i were to ever move there myself, I would do it for the land, privacy, and view. There is no shortage of any of those three in the Okanogan. Now I know where to go if I need to pick up ammo on vacation. Thanks!

 

[Heidland]

Thank you sir. Honestly, it sounds exactly like the area I grew up in down in Texas...only with more trees

The job is based in Coulee Dam, but bounces between there and Oroville so I was looking for a mid-range point and Omak/Tonasket seemed fairly ideal. I've been researching some of those new forest plan lots to the east of Tonasket...I think we are going to drive up there in the next couple of weeks to physically look round. All depends on what I hear back from the job folks.

 

[hermannr]

Great info on shops. Whenever im up there im either on property way up by Molson (half hour east of Oroville). And yes, if i were to ever move there myself, I would do it for the land, privacy, and view. There is no shortage of any of those three in the Okanogan. Now I know where to go if I need to pick up ammo on vacation. Thanks!

We are actually closer to Molson than Tonasket or Oroville. We are on the west edge of the Highlands about 11 miles south (as the crow flys) from the Canadian Border.

For anyone that is interested. If you have the address of a property that is for sale that you are interested in, or the owners name, you can go to teh Okanogan Assessor's web page and see the aerial view view with the approximate property boundry. Definately not as precise as say Skagit Co's information, but close enough to find the corners.

The second thing is, if you are looking for a property, especially in the Highlands, you must be very aware of Fire (as in wild fire). Any house/cabin/vacation property that you are interested in...be very interested is what they call forest fuels. Standing timber is good, grass is good, a lot of down timber (blow downs, snow crushed trees, broken branches and brush) are an invitation to a really big fire.

The fire district (if you are in one) and/or the DNR will be all over you to have at least 30' of "defensible space" around any buildings...this means NO BRUSH, grass trimmed, and watered if possible, anything that will keep a fire at bay.

 

[Sun195]

I really like that area - have friends who live south of Republic, so we travel through there a few times each year.

 

[hermannr]

Well, if you call Omak "civilization" sure, Tonasket is only about 30 minutes or so (it's actually only about 29 miles, if'n I disremember right).

When I was a kid growing up in Omak, we had the only stop light in the county. Now, Omak has three, I think.

As far as shooting, we just went out to the National Forest and found a nice place with a good backstop...not hard to find over there.

Wish I could move back.

Omak still has the only stop LightS (yes, there are three of them now.)

 

[iusmc2002]

For country as open as it is in NE WA, I would recommend something like Hunting GPS Maps - Public/Private Land Ownership names for your GPS. It's $40 and is essentially an overlay for Google Earth. It has layers like Public/Government owned land, private parcels, tribal and whatnot. Shows names of the owners and the boundaries of a piece of property. We're house hunting around Chewelah/Colville, and it's REALLY nice to be able to type in an address and be able to see exactly what the boundaries of the property we're looking at. We look for a listing online, then put the address in, and we can see what it is we're looking at. It's especially nice when we're looking at property over 20 acres because we don't have to get out and walk the entire place to see if it's something we like. It also makes it nice when someone tells you that you're on private land, and you know you aren't.
You can download it straight to your computer, or have it mailed to you as an SD card or CD and put it onto your GPS that way. Very, very handy! We moved up here from Longview about 8 months ago, and it has been a HUGE help.

 

[hermannr]

Thank you sir. Honestly, it sounds exactly like the area I grew up in down in Texas...only with more trees

The job is based in Coulee Dam, but bounces between there and Oroville so I was looking for a mid-range point and Omak/Tonasket seemed fairly ideal. I've been researching some of those new forest plan lots to the east of Tonasket...I think we are going to drive up there in the next couple of weeks to physically look round. All depends on what I hear back from the job folks.

What size property are you looking for? 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160????? There is some of all the above. The bigger parcels are getting a little more difficult to find, but they do exist. raw land goes for: 5 acres is about $3000 an acre, 10 is about $2000 and acre, the bigger pieces are generally less that $2000 an acre depending on access, quality and water (water is a big deal here) as well as how far you have to pull power...unless you wnat to live "off grid".

Care should be taken if you want high speed internet (there are places that the PUD has fiber to, that you can hit with a special antenna) otherwise you have to go with WiFi (if you are in range of a tower) or satillite...(or dialup if you have a phone...most places up here are serviced by land lines, some by cell phones only)

Oh, one caution. If you get in the hills above Oroville, be careful you do not bounce off a BC tel tower...the foreign charges will add up quickly.

 

[Heidland]

I live in the boonies down here in SW WA, so we only have WIFI now. I have to drive 7 miles to to get a cell signal. Our 10M is plenty enough, and I have contacts in the industry all over the state so setting up my own ISP for WIFI up there couldn't be any harder than it was here.

 

[justsaymo]

Hermannr: pretty much has it covered. I frequent Dave's in Riverside as it is closest to my place. They usually have what I need or can get it quick at competitive prices. Al is a GREAT guy. I try to shoot the silhouette matches he puts on each month (too much snow and I heard he's sick this month) whenever I can. Great fun! The Tonasket Range is just west of town.

Some sage advice I was given was "If you move to Okanogan County, bring your wife and a job because you won't find either there."

 

[Heidland]

Hermannr: pretty much has it covered. I frequent Dave's in Riverside as it is closest to my place. They usually have what I need or can get it quick at competitive prices. Al is a GREAT guy. I try to shoot the silhouette matches he puts on each month (too much snow and I heard he's sick this month) whenever I can. Great fun! The Tonasket Range is just west of town.

Some sage advice I was given was "If you move to Okanogan County, bring your wife and a job because you won't find either there."

Luckily we own our own business and as long as I have an Internet connection and a laptop I can work from anywhere on the planet That's why I find the job offer up there so intriguing: a reason to move somewhere less Californicated and I can work full time while my wife runs our company.