As this year comes to a close, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is looking back on 2026 and planning for the 2027 season. To help visitors enjoy Oregon’s more than 250 state park areas and know what to expect next year, read the press release about upcoming changes. More information about these changes is below.
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OPRD has made significant changes to its fees in the past two years to raise revenue and lower costs. These changes became necessary for several reasons:
Fees alone cannot address the long-term issue of deferred maintenance. OPRD has been and will continue to focus on long-term funding solutions that can meet the scale of the deferred maintenance need.
OPRD does not receive general fund tax dollars. Our funding sources cover operations and smaller projects over time, but cannot replace a campground water system or a wastewater plant at multiple locations while also addressing emergency projects.
Deferred maintenance refers to maintenance projects that do not get completed at a time the agency would prefer if money and capacity were not an issue. These are projects like replacing or remodeling restrooms to make them accessible, upgrading sewer systems, and expanding utilities like electrical, water and sewer to ensure parks and campgrounds have basic facilities that work. Often these projects cost millions of dollars.
Additionally, urgent projects come up like damage from landslides, winter storms, invasive species, wildfires and vandalism that require immediate action and further deplete resources.
OPRD’s current funding sources, Lottery and user fees, cannot cover these ongoing, large projects. OPRD has been and will continue to focus on long-term funding solutions that can meet the scale of deferred maintenance need.
In 2021, OPRD received $50 million in general obligation bonds from the Legislature and was able to address 16 of these important projects statewide.
While visitors come and enjoy a lot of state parks year-round, it is also our busiest time for repairs. Some parks, like Wallowa Lake, close for the winter. In other parks, parts may be closed or under construction: see the work happening at Cape Lookout State Park, Silver Falls State Park and Smith Rock State Park.
Any time you go to visit a park it’s best to check that park’s web page to see if there are any closures or advisories.
There are events going on all year long; make sure to check the events calendar. One of the biggest events each year is First Day Hikes. This is a nationwide program and OPRD participates every year at parks around the state. You can find out about these events by looking at the event calendar or following Oregon State Parks on social media.
Jessie M. Honeyman State Park will close for several months starting in January for utility and hazard tree removal work.
Other unplanned closures will likely occur due to erosion and winter storms that mean downed trees and other hazards making areas unsafe for visitors.
Starting Jan. 1, 2027, physical hang tags for 12-month parking permits will cost $10 more for a total of $70 for Oregon residents and $85 for non-residents. Additionally, the hang tags will only be available for sale online or by phone at 1-800-452-5687.
The additional $10 will cover printing and mailing costs. We received requests for digital options and since launching the digital parking permits most people choose digital for their 12-month parking permit.
Single day-use parking permits are not changing in price: $10 for residents and $12 for non-residents.
When you purchase the digital 12-month parking permit, you will be asked to enter up to two license plates and those cars are immediately ready to visit any park. You can change the license plates anytime from your online account.
You can call our reservation vendor, Aspira, at 1-800-452-5687 and they will help you with your purchase.
While it was great to have the 12-month parking permits available in stores and through different groups, tracking, reconciling, and processing returns for physical permits carries significant administrative burden. As customers increasingly use digital permits, the manual vendor system no longer aligns with purchasing behavior. Centralizing sales reduces workload and simplifies public access.
No. Physical parking permits are not longer sold in person at these locations. Note: if you need to visit OPRD's central office in Salem for any other reason, we moved. We're now next to State Capitol State Park at 355 Capitol Street NE, Suite 130 - it's the Oregon Department of Transportation building. You can also call at 503-986-0707.
About 150 state park areas where it is free to park in the day-use area. Additionally, check out Oregon State Parks’ Library Pass Program to see if one of the 82 participating libraries is near you. We’re currently working with our partners at the State Library of Oregon to expand this program.
When you go to reserve a site, the website will now show you the cost for each day. This takes the mystery out of some of the variation in pricing, like weekday/weekend pricing and Oregon resident/non-resident pricing. All of it is displayed before you click the dates you want to reserve.
We’ve also enhanced our system that notifies you if a spot you want becomes available: it’s called Spot Watch! You can now set up a notification that includes multiple parks, lodging types, and date ranges. Learn more below.
Go to the reservations web page and log into your account. Click on Spot Watch along the top.
Click the “Add new” button.
Creating your Spot Watch:
Click “Create a request” and you’re ready to receive notifications!
In March 2026, OPRD began charging $10 for using the dump station at 18 state parks. Dump stations require regular pumping, maintenance, repairs, and utilities. The fee helps cover the costs of maintaining dump stations, supports our work toward more sustainable operations, and helps to ensure dump station services remain available for visitors.
Learn more about OPRD’s dump station fees.
The dump station fees have increased revenue to help off-set costs for dump station management. OPRD is now evaluating whether there are other dump station locations where technology and site considerations would allow for the fee to be implemented.