Central Oregon’s state parks face record visitation and rising costs

(Update: adding comments from Central Oregon parks, adding video)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Oregon’s state parks saw record-breaking visitation numbers in 2024. According to the agency, there were nearly 53.85 million estimated visits last year.

Although park officials are excited about the increased interest, they say the influx of visitors is putting a strain on facilities, infrastructure and natural resources.

"The cost to operate a park is going up, as well as our visitation. And so it's starting to outpace the revenue that we're bringing in." said Matt Davey, the manager of Smith Rock State Park, which sees close to a million visitors annually.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has three main sources of funding. Nearly half comes from constitutionally dedicated lottery funds, about 15% comes from recreational vehicle license plate fees and roughly 35% comes from park fees from visitors. OPRD is not funded by taxes.

The rising cost of maintenance led ORPD to double prices to park and raise fees to camp earlier this year. 

"We can't continue to keep raising parking fees, so we'll have to look at other sources of revenue." Davey said Wednesday.

More visitors can put extra strain on their buildings and infrastructure, including restrooms.

"About a third of them were designed maybe 50 years ago, and may not have been necessarily designed to accommodate the uses that we see now." said Brian Vaughan, who manages Tumalo State Park, Pilot Butte and Cline Falls Scenic Viewpoint.

Oregon State Parks also plans to hire 200 seasonal rangers this summer.

"This year at Smith Rock, we just have one position to fill for this summer," Davey said. "Other parks will be hiring a lot more positions."

Summer typically attracts more visitors, with the peak season spanning from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Oregon State Parks news release:

Record number of day-use visits estimated at Oregon State Parks in 2024

SALEM, Oregon— Oregon State Parks experienced its busiest day-use year in history last year with more than 53.85 million estimated visits, outpacing the previous record in 2021 by about 200,000 visits.

Day-use visits increased overall by more than 3 percent last year due to visitors seeking out coastal parks in greater numbers. Other regions saw slight decreases.

Visitors also logged 2.83 million camper nights, which is down slightly due in part to construction closures at popular state parks including Beverly Beach, Bullards Beach and Nehalem Bay state parks.

The record number of day-use visits follows several other record-breaking years at Oregon State Parks. The rise in popularity does have an impact, including an increase in costs and wear and tear on an aging park system.

• One busy park needs nearly a semi-truck load of toilet paper per year for visitors.
• More than one-third of restroom facilities are 50 years old or older, which require more care and maintenance with higher use. The cost to replace a restroom/shower building is now more than $1 million each.
• Parks serve as many as 17,000 campers per night in the busy season, which means moving a city roughly the size of Canby in and out of campgrounds almost daily.

At the same time, the rising cost of operations and maintenance have outpaced revenue by more than 30%. Oregon State Parks increased visitor fees this year and will continue to look at fees over the next two years to help balance the budget.

“Raising fees is not a long-term solution. We need to talk about what Oregonians want for the future of Oregon State Parks and how do we, as a state, make sure they’re sustainably funded for current and future generations” said Director Lisa Sumption.

Oregon State Parks does not receive general fund tax dollars for operations. The system is funded by recreational vehicle fees, the state lottery and revenue earned by serving visitors.

The increased visitation also underscores the need for rangers and support staff statewide. Last month, Oregon State Parks started its 2025 seasonal recruitment to hire more than 200 seasonal rangers and ranger assistants with the goal of filling all those roles this year.

Rangers and support staff work hard to keep the parks clean and safe while providing educational and recreational opportunities.

Visitors can help reduce the impact at their favorite parks by following park rules, staying on trail and leaving no trace. They might also consider visiting some of the hidden gems in the park system to find a new favorite place to explore.

The overnight camping figure is derived by taking the total number occupied sites and applying a multiplier to estimate the number of camper nights. The day-use figure is derived by taking car counts and applying a multiplier to estimate the number of visits. Car counters sometimes require maintenance and replacement, which can impact individual numbers. The overall results are OPRD’s best estimate for tracking trends over time.