By ZACH URNESS/Salem Statesman Journal
Camping or visiting an Oregon state park is about to get a little more expensive.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has announced a series of fee increases at the state’s roughly 250 parks and recreation areas that include everything from camping to parking to making an online reservation.
Most of the fee increases are modest — $2 to $5 — but taken together they raise the overall cost of getting outdoors in Oregon, along with laying the groundwork for additional fee increases in the future.
“We know that raising fees by any amount can be challenging for visitors, and we don’t make this decision lightly,” said state parks director Lisa Sumption. “We try to keep costs and fees as low as possible to minimize the impact while still fulfilling our commitment to stewardship and recreation.”
Parks officials said multiple years of record visitation had stressed facilities, while inflation and utility costs also made running the system more expensive.
In general, the system needs more revenue to ensure the parks stay nice, associate director Chris Havel said previously said.
“Depending on the fee, the last increase was anywhere from seven to 15 years ago for base fees,” a news release said.
Here’s a breakdown of the dates when prices will go up, and by how much.
Starting Oct. 15
Oregon State Parks will increase its base camping fees, and all reservations made for 2025 stays will include the fee increase. Increases in base rate by site type:
- $2 increase for miscellaneous sites (including teepees, meeting halls and other facilities)
- $3 increase for tent sites (including horse tent sites, horse group sites, group tent) and primitive tent sites
- $4 increase for RV sites (includes full hookup, electrical, horse RV and group RV sites)
- $5 increase for cabins and yurts (includes rustic, mini, totem and deluxe sites)
- Seasonal rate increases are included — prices will be $2 to $5 higher in summer than the off-season.
Starting Jan. 1:
- State parks will increase its reservation fee from $8 to $10 per site starting Jan. 1. That means anyone who makes a campsite reservation at ReserveAmerica.com will pay the extra $2.
- Daily parking permit fees will increase from $5 to $10 at the 25 parks that charge a fee for day-use parking.
- The annual parking pass, good for all state parks, remains the same at $30 for the annual permit and $50 for the two-year permit.
Starting July 1:
- State parks will expand the 25% out-of-states surcharge for RV campsites to all site types for out-of-state campers.
- New camping rate ranges replace the existing ones. These ranges set the lowest and highest fees that OPRD can charge over time. It gives OPRD’s director the ability to change fees in the future as needed.
- The new rate ranges would include prices such as rustic yurts and cabins would cost $52-$72 per night after the increase, while deluxe yurts and cabins, which usually have showers and amenities, would reach $86-$129.
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