For a long time, a Ridgefield Saturday meant picking a side. You either drove down Pioneer to the historic core for coffee at Davis Park and a walk toward the waterfront, or you took Exit 14 and stayed in the I-5 corridor for Costco, In-N-Out, and the drive-throughs. The two halves of town rarely shared the same day.
Summer 2026 is the first season where that stops being true. The Hillhurst Commercial Center finally has tenants moving into finished shells, the Royle Ridge Station corner is under construction, and Ridgefield Main Street quietly added a First Friday series that puts downtown on the calendar three extra evenings this year. If you already live here, the practical question is which of these things is actually open, and how to string them together without spending the whole afternoon in the car.
What's Actually Opening At Hillhurst
Hillhurst has been the "any day now" project for close to a decade. The three-building neighborhood commercial center near Ridgefield High School was first discussed in 2016, sat through delays, and only recently finished vertical construction. As of the city's May 2026 Development Summary, three interior tenants have real permits.
| Tenant | Space | Concept | Permit status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fika Coffee | 2,337 sf | Nordic-inspired coffeehouse, breakfast to lunch | Permitted late 2025 |
| Cheeky Noodles | 1,601 sf | Restaurant, neighboring Fika | Permitted |
| Mahoney's Public House | 2,688 sf | Pub | Tenant improvement approved March 2026 |
The category matters as much as the names. Fika's menu leans breakfast and light lunch with avocado toast, soups, and baked goods, which fills a morning slot Ridgefield has been missing north of the historic core. Mahoney's gives that same block an evening anchor. The center sits inside walking distance of the residential streets around Ridgefield High School, so for a chunk of the city, this is the first commercial cluster that doesn't require a car.
The Union Ridge Corner Keeps Filling In
The other cluster to watch is Union Ridge Town Center, the development anchored by Costco and Washington's first In-N-Out Burger. The In-N-Out opened in 2023 and produced the queuing spectacle the Ridgefield Police Department spent weeks planning for, with Chief Cathy Doriot coordinating traffic across Washington State Patrol, WSDOT, and Clark County Fire. The chain has since opened a second Washington location in Vancouver at 13511 SE Third Way, which took some of the pressure off the Ridgefield lot but not all of it.
What's new for 2026 is the second wave of tenants. Jersey Mike's Subs pulled tenant improvement permits in March for a 1,160 square foot space at Union Ridge. It will be the sandwich chain's first location in north Clark County, which sounds like a small thing until you've made the run to Salmon Creek for a sub.
A short drive west, Grocery Outlet is under construction as the anchor of Royle Ridge Station at 4618 Pioneer Street. The 16,902 square foot shell was permitted in January 2026 and tenant improvement was issued in March. For anyone living in the newer subdivisions off Royle Road, this is the first full grocery option in the corridor. The site plan at 448 S Royle Road also includes three commercial buildings between 5,000 and 6,000 square feet, with a pre-application conference held in March.
Ace Hardware is the other one worth tracking. There's no confirmed address yet, but the company is actively posting job openings for a Ridgefield store manager and team member positions, which usually means a signed lease.
Downtown Adds A First Friday
Ridgefield First Saturdays are the event that residents already know. Vendors set up at Davis Park from 9 AM to 2 PM, the Farmers Market runs the same hours June through September, and downtown blocks fill with live music, sidewalk sales, and food carts. The May 2026 First Saturday doubled as the Spring Festival at Overlook Park, with Mayor Cole speaking at noon and free cupcakes for the anniversary of the series.
The change this summer is that First Saturdays are no longer the only reason to be downtown after 4 PM. Ridgefield Main Street launched Discover Downtown: First Fridays, a monthly evening from 4 to 8 PM on the first Friday of June, August, and September. The program pairs with Main Street Moola, which gives shoppers $10 in Moola for every $30 spent at participating downtown shops and restaurants, up to $100 per household. If you have been paying full retail at the same three places for years, the Moola math is worth running.
The Ridgefield Multicultural Festival lands on a First Saturday in downtown and includes cultural musicians, dancers, community organizations, and food carts. The 2026 edition adds a pop-up museum at the Greely Building on the weekends leading up to the festival, put together by Ridgefield clubs and nonprofits telling the city's own history.
Overlook Park, Davis Park, And The Waterfront
The park schedule is the part of summer most residents already have in their bones, but a few dates are worth pinning down.
- Overlook Park splash pad: Open for the 2026 season starting Saturday, May 2, with jets running 10 AM to dusk daily through October, weather permitting.
- Ridgefield Farmers Market: Davis Park, Saturdays 9 AM to 2 PM, June through September.
- Ridgefield 4th of July Celebration: Overlook Park, 8 AM to 5 PM on July 4, with the Farmers Market running the same morning at Davis Park and Independence Day mimosas at Ridgefield Wine Bar on N Main Avenue from 11 AM to 4 PM.
- Community Dragon Boat Paddle: Ridgefield Boat Launch at 5 Mill Street, July 15, 5:30 to 8 PM.
- Picnic in the Park: YMCA free lunch program at Davis Park on weekday summer dates including July 6 and July 17, noon to 1 PM.
The dragon boat is the sleeper. The city's 40 foot dragon boats came out of the Lewis River to Vancouver Lake Water Trail, established in 2012, and the Big Paddle Waterfront Festival on June 6, 2026 marked the 15th year of the event. If you missed the June paddle, the July community paddle is a free way to actually get on the water without owning a boat.
The Saturday That Finally Connects
Here is the piece that changed this year, and it's the reason to write any of this down. During Big Paddle, the city ran a free hayride between the waterfront and Davis Park in downtown from 10 AM to 2 PM. Free parking at the waterfront, hayride into downtown, First Saturday and Farmers Market at Davis Park, and back again. One parking spot for the whole day.
That single logistical detail is what has been missing from a Ridgefield summer for years. The historic core, the waterfront, and the new eastern commercial centers have always been close enough on a map and far enough apart in practice that most residents picked one and stayed. A shuttle, even a seasonal one on a single festival day, is the first honest attempt at treating downtown, the boat launch, and Overlook Park as a single Saturday instead of three separate errands.
Whether that turns into a permanent summer service is the thing to watch. For now, it's a working proof of concept, and it points at the version of Ridgefield that summer 2026 is halfway to becoming: downtown for the morning market, splash pad or dragon boat mid-day, Fika or Mahoney's on the east side for the evening once Hillhurst is fully open, and the car parked once.
If you own a home here, that connection matters in a quieter way too. What makes a small city feel worth staying in long term is not the arrival of any single tenant. It's the moment the pieces stop operating as separate errands and start feeling like one place. That is happening this summer.
A Note From Karen
If you are a Ridgefield homeowner and this summer has you thinking about what your home is worth now that Hillhurst is filling in and Royle Ridge Station is under construction, the market answer is worth a real conversation and not a portal estimate. Karen Higgins has spent more than 30 years in Clark County and works with buyers, sellers, and neighbors across Ridgefield, Brush Prairie, Camas, and the surrounding communities. Request a free home valuation and local market consultation, and let's talk about what your block looks like from a broker's chair.
