Fees for camping, parking and reservations in Oregon State Parks are going up.
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department officials announced Sept. 27 that the fees will be increasing, citing higher costs for utilities, operations and maintenance in addition to inflation.
The increases came after an extensive public record that included opportunities for Oregon residents to weigh in via letter, email, in-person or Zoom.
“We know that raising fees by any amount can be challenging for visitors, and we don’t make this decision lightly,” said OPRD 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.”
Most of the increases range from $2 to $5. The park system has experienced record visitation in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released by the OPRD. Utility costs have increased by 28 percent during the past four years, but most state park fees have remained the same. Depending on the fee, the most recent increase was from seven to 15 years ago.
OPRD has three main sources of funding. A little less than half comes from constitutionally dedicated lottery funds, about 15 percent comes from recreational vehicle license plate fees and roughly 35 percent comes from park users. OPRD does not receive general fund state tax funds.
The fees phased in:
Oct. 15, 2024: OPRD increased its base camping fees for the first time since 2017. The increase applies to all camping reservations for 2025. The increases include:
• $2 increase for miscellaneous sites (teepees, meeting halls and other facilities)
• $3 increase for tent sites (includes horse tent sites, horse group sites, group tent and paddle-in sites) and primitive sites (includes overflow, fly-in and walk-to-sites)
• $4 increase for RV sites (includes full hookup, electrical, horse RV and group sites)
• $5 increase for cabins and yurts (includes rustic, mini, totem, and deluxe sites)
Seasonal rate increases were adopted in 2020. The seasonal adjustments will be added to the new base rates. As in previous years, summer rates are $2 more for tent sites, $3 more for RV sites and $5 more for cabins/yurts.
Jan. 1, 2025: OPRD will increase its reservation fee from $8 to $10 per site starting Jan. 1, 2025. This fee has not been increased since 2010. Daily parking permit fees will increase from $5 to $10 at the 25 parks that charge such a fee. Parking permit fees were last increased in 2009. The annual permit and the two-year permit fees remain the same at $30 for the annual permit and $50 for the two-year permit.
July 1, 2025: OPRD will expand the 25 percent out-of-state surcharge for RV campsites (required by state law) to all site types. New camping rate ranges replace the existing ones. These ranges set the lowest and highest fees that OPRD can charge over time. It gives the OPRD director the ability to change fees in the future as needed. The last rate range update was adopted in 2018.
A proposed rule change would give Sumption and her successors greater flexibility to decide which parks charge a day-use parking permit fee. The change would require day-use parking permit fees at all state parks but give the director the ability to waive the fee. If adopted, the director has said she plans to waive the fee at most parks.
