Back to the '70s!!!!

Missouri State Parks have no entrance fees and the camping rate is the same for residents or non. Missouri has some of the best parks, in my opinion, in the country. And the whole thing is funded by a 1/8 of 1% sales tax. All headed by the Department of Conservation, which does an exceptional job.
It is quite a shock to go to, say, Michigan and pay an entrance fee plus a $5.00 non-resident up charge. An Michigan isn't the only one.

Stay at federal parks. They are usually cheaper. And if you have the lifetime senior pass,it is half price,plus free entrance to any National Park or historic site.WE just booked a site at Raystown Lake in Pa.It is an Army Corps of Engineers Campground. Normal site with electric is $36 a night. With Senior Pass it is $18.

Many states (and counties and municipalities) have different rates for nonresident campers or visitors using their parks. I don't mind that in the slightest; it's only fair that the residents who collectively own the parks should get a better deal in using them. Indeed, I'm rather surprised that Oregon apparently did not have an out-of-state surcharge already.

I think I've only encountered a few places in my travels where there was no non-resident surcharge for such parks. National parks tend to be a little different, and of course private parks rarely have better rates for locals.

We were at Fort Stevens St Park a couple weeks back. There were probably 6 Idaho plates right around us in our loop. I would venture to guess that 30-40% of the plates were from out of state. I realize WA is right across the river so WA are given, but the spot right behind us (Pull thru) had on one nite a UT plate then the next night a Conn plate. Walking around the park it was amazing the number of out of state plates.
I'm all for an out of state fee hike.

lots2seeinmyrv wrote:
RV industry pumping out the RV's. No new parks are being built or renovated for more sites :(

Regulations hamper the building of new campgrounds and make it cost prohibitive. What is the solution to this problem?

Simple parks with less amenities to keep costs down?

A Jellystone campground about 40 miles from us spent the last year+ expanding and rebuilding. Originally had about 125 sites. Now there are over 200 sites and the same amount of cabins, plus a water park and other amenities. A full hookup site now is around $100 a night! We never stayed there before, won't now for sure.

The big attraction in the area is the Renaissance Festival in July and August, which was cancelled this year. Not my cup of tea either.

As much as nobody likes paying more, I don't blame Oregon at all. We're still in Oregon three nights at State parks, a County park and three at a private resort, out of the license plates I see easily 50% are out of state guests. The reliance on the Lottery for funding has come to bite the Parks department hard. I just wish they'd stop the spin about staying at home and say "We need the cash and Oregonians want to go to their own parks," at least that would be honest. Fact is that Oregon needs the tourists, while it won't hurt the parks it may impact the other businesses nearby.

lots2seeinmyrv wrote:


Regulations hamper the building of new campgrounds and make it cost prohibitive. What is the solution to this problem?

The first two words is your answer.

RV industry pumping out the RV's. No new parks are being built or renovated for more sites :(

Regulations hamper the building of new campgrounds and make it cost prohibitive. What is the solution to this problem?

Simple parks with less amenities to keep costs down?

Michigan has done it forever with a higher vehicle pass price for out of state residents.

Two lines of thought on this:
- State residents own the parks, so they should get a better price.
- These are big tourist draws and support nearby businesses so you shouldn't discourage tourists.

As someone suggested, for a typical weekender, it's unlikely to have a big impact one way or the other.

We are weekend warriors so campsite rates don’t really have much influence on where we go. But I’d be glad to pay an extra 20-30% if they would use it to build more sites.

We camp mainly in GA, AL, and FL, and sites in the better state parks stay booked. You can no longer grab a site for a spur of the moment trip at the parks you’d want to go to.