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.
I wonder if they would consider a donation system for people that are a little bit more well off. I would certainly pay double, if it meant another family would be able to go for free. I’m sure there are a lot of people like myself that would do the same thing. And that would definitely help mitigate price changes.
Thank you for that, 😊 As a single parent, I would love to get out to the parks more often, showing my son my own love of nature. With the rising costs, of life, it’s been 2 years that we have not been to a park. My son asked to go camping for his 8th birthday this year, but settled on a backyard campout instead, so we could also afford cake and guests and a new tent. As a parent, it’s disappointing to myself when there just isn’t enough for something so simple in the budget. Thank you very much for that idea. I’m sure many more 8 year olds thank you, as well. 😊🎈
Thank you for your generous offer. As a retired, disabled senior widower living on a fixed income of only a little over 1300 a month, which doesn’t allow for anything extra. When my wife was still alive we could afford the parks, but without her Social Security and small pension I just cannot afford to visit our beautiful state parks on my income alone at the current price, much less with the new increases. It would be nice to have a lesser fee for lower income individuals like myself.
Oregon citizens already pay high taxes, property taxes, state taxes, gas taxes, federal taxes … the list goes on. I don’t believe it is an equal system. I see it as taxation without representation. No one asked the citizens to vote on this tax. Why can’t the increase go on travelers from outside our state instead of on the people that are already taxed? Charge by drivers license. If you live in California, or Texas, you pay a higher fee.
Absolutely spot on.
Excellent idea, makes sense that’s why it will not happen.
Well said, triple out for of state. Apply same to hinting and fishing license. And not triple what we pay, but triple the price it is currently for them
Triple seems a little harsh. Anglers and hunters from out-of-state spend quite a lot of money when they come to Oregon to hunt and fish. Since we can do these activities without having to leave home, but the visitors help to fill our hotels and restaurants, often during the off season. And remember, every night’s hotel stay comes with a rather hefty 10% room tax.
Yeah, I can pay a few extra bucks as long as they can ensure my safety from crime.
Start charging full daily rates for people that make reservations that don’t show versus just the first night. It really messes up online reservations. The State is losing revenue because of this policy. So many sites are empty when I’ve had reservations and no one shows up.
Way to run off tourists. You need to realize just how much money tourists spend each day.
I’d like to see a general admission fee introduced at all border crossings at the OR/CA border and make it substantial. Tom McCall would definitely approve.