Oregon state parks saw a record number of visitors in 2024. Why officials are worried

PORTLAND – A whopping 53,853,609 people made day trips to Oregon’s state parks in 2024, according to data released Friday by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, but rather than celebrate the news, park officials are sounding the alarm.

That rise in popularity – a 3% increase over 2023’s numbers, and a mere .4% increase over the previous record, set in 2021 – comes at a cost, officials said.

“It isn’t sustainable financially,” state parks director Lisa Sumption said. “We need help.”

More visitors have meant more wear and tear on park buildings and infrastructure, which increases the cost of managing the entire park system, the agency said Friday.

To illustrate that point, a news release announcing the record numbers pointed to a few examples:

• One busy park needs nearly a semitruck load of toilet paper per year.
• More than a third of restroom facilities are 50 years old or older. The cost to replace one? More than $1 million.
• The costs of operating and maintaining state parks have outpaced revenue by 30%.

Sumption said the department faces a $350 million maintenance backlog, with infrastructure aging and visitors requiring more and newer amenities.

The state parks department does not receive public funding, relying instead on revenue from the Oregon Lottery, RV license fees, and money from campsite reservations and parking passes.

With costs and visitor counts increasing alike, park officials decided to raise parking and camping fees across the board, increases that went into effect Jan. 1. But those alone will not be enough to fill the funding gap, Sumption warned.

“Continuing to raise fees is not the answer,” she said. “The funding we have is great, and we’re grateful for it, but it is not enough to sustain.”

Sumption said the state parks department will be facing a “budget crisis” in 2027 unless something changes. The parks department has already been working with state lawmakers, she said, but there are no clear-cut solutions so far.

In the meantime, Oregon’s state parks are only getting busier.

The big increase in visitors last year was driven entirely by a surge of people to the Oregon coast, the only region in the state that saw an increase over 2023, the data shows. Coastal parks saw an 8% increase in visitors last year, while parks in the Willamette Valley and eastern Oregon saw decreases of 3% and 5%, respectively.

Facing the sheer force of the Pacific Ocean, those parks sometimes pose more complex challenges for park managers. Earlier this year, Cape Lookout State Park had to scrap a long-planned campground renovation due to “unexpected geological and safety concerns,” the department said.

Three coastal parks saw a greater than 100% increases in visitors in 2024: Hug Point in Cannon Beach, William M. Tugman south of Reedsport, and Driftwood Beach in Seal Rock, which saw a 233% increase over the previous year.

In addition to the record number of day-use visitors, the state parks department tallied 2,830,255 overnight visits. That’s the lowest annual number since 2017 (not counting 2020, when state parks shut down for months). Camping numbers were down across the state, including at the coast, which accounted for 62% of all camper nights in Oregon.

Without adequate funding, the much-heralded Oregon state park experience could become a thing of the past, officials warn.

If campgrounds lose water and restrooms don’t get replaced, it could become a grim time for the park system, Sumption said. “At some point people won’t come because the experience won’t be as good.”