COVID-19 closing Jackson Co. water slides at Emigrant Lake for 2nd year in a row

Jenna King May 17, 2021

Last Updated: May 17, 2021

ASHLAND, Ore. —For several decades Emigrant Lake has been home to popular water slides. This year, those looking to cool off will have to find another option.

For the second year in a row, the twin 280 foot slides will not be open to the public. Steve Lambert, Jackson County Parks Program Manager, says the decision was primarily covid based.

“It’s just really hard to be able to manage that facility in a profitable manner while having to ensure that we have six feet of distance between all of the kids up on the slide, coming down the slide, and around it,” said Lambert.

Lambert says the plan is to reopen the slides next year.

Until then, he urges individuals to visit other outdoor recreation the Rogue Valley has to offer.

Jenna King

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Jenna King is the 6pm and 11pm anchor for NBC5 News. Jenna is a Burbank, CA native. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Sports Business. During her time at Oregon she was part of the student-run television station, Duck TV. She also grew her passion for sports through her internship with the PAC 12 Network. When Jenna is not in the newsroom you can find her rooting for her hometown Dodgers, exploring the outdoors or binging on the latest Netflix release.