OREGON STATE PARKS RANT

[Oasisbob]

Camping is becomming very popular within 50 miles or so of Portland Oregon. Numerous times my family & I have wanted to get away during winter month's only to find campsites not available. Why does Oregon state parks continue to close, or partially close, campgrounds during winter months? Their own reservation data shows an interest. At around $30 dollars a night it is as if they are turning away revenue. We knew at Champoeg state park one loop was closed during winter season but they would let folks camp if space was needed. This year they are not letting this happen as logs and equipment are being stored due to construction in other areas. Of all the space available why choose to store where folks could be camping? I will write to OSP if I can find out who to write. Just frustrating. Other reason is many families are living in the park in Rv's because rental prices are out of reach in Portland. We met 5 families doing this last year. So if you are considering shopping for an RV check camp site availability first. Also USFS campgrounds close way too early. Why?

[Ralph_Cramden]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Indiana State Parks are open year round as are the campgrounds. Electricity is available at the campsites, but water and bathhouses are off and closed. Bring your own water,use the pit toilets and you can camp year round.

PA state parks are a mixed bag. Some in eastern PA stay open year round with limited facilities. In the central mountain areas and north most campgrounds close the 3rd weekend in October, with some staying open until mid December through the main deer season. At any the first prediction of overnight temps in the teens and the maintenance guys will be scrambling to shut off all water including dump stations. Add to that most restroom /shower houses are not heated. So even if still open after that happens its truly "dry" camping.

At one we frequent that closes in October, they opened 1 loop one winter as a test but the light use was not enough to justify the constant snow removal required.

[DutchmenSport]

Indiana State Parks are open year round as are the campgrounds. Electricity is available at the campsites, but water and bathhouses are off and closed. Bring your own water,use the pit toilets and you can camp year round.

[2gypsies1]

Take this map and zoom in around Portland and you'll find many possibilities of camping within 50 miles. Test some out and you may find your new 'jewel' of a campground.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/oregon

[DrewE]

Veebyes wrote:

Had a similar problem with a MD SP last fall. They shut it down because work was being done on the bathroom. No big deal to us. We are self contained. We seldom us a CG bathroom for anything. Don't require water at the site either.

All we really want is power when it is extra cold or hot. Nope. Park closed.

Leaves you scratching your head sometimes.

It's entirely possible that they may not be permitted to be open if the showerhouse is not functional due to the requirements of the state or local sanitary codes.

[rhagfo]

jmtandem wrote:

Numerous times my family & I have wanted to get away during winter month's only to find campsites not available.

Look a little farther south. Quartzsite is wide open all winter, prices are ridiculously low like free for the first 14 days in some places, and you will not be alone. Like minded folks are all there.

It appears the OP is looking for a close in campground for a weekend getaway with their children. Within about 100 miles of Portland is four coastal state parks that are open and offer reservations and first come sites.

[jmtandem]

Numerous times my family & I have wanted to get away during winter month's only to find campsites not available.

Look a little farther south. Quartzsite is wide open all winter, prices are ridiculously low like free for the first 14 days in some places, and you will not be alone. Like minded folks are all there.

[Veebyes]

Not just Oregon, though we did run into minor availability problems this spring with loops still being closed & there was demand for them to be open.

My guess is that it is the difference between a privately run CG which has to make a profit & a state run CG which does not. The motivation to get every camper possible is not there.

Had a similar problem with a MD SP last fall. They shut it down because work was being done on the bathroom. No big deal to us. We are self contained. We seldom us a CG bathroom for anything. Don't require water at the site either.

All we really want is power when it is extra cold or hot. Nope. Park closed.

Leaves you scratching your head sometimes.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

ksg5000 wrote:


You might be surprised and get better info by sending a inquiry/complaint to the gurus who run the Park System.

X-27

"YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED (maybe not) BY SENDING A INQUIRY/COMPLAINT TO THE GURUS WHO RUN THE PARK SYSTEM."

OP: There is a possibility your inquiry/complaint will reach someone who has the ability/capability to do something.

However, it's doubtful (chances somewhere between slim & none) that the "someone" reads (or cares about) rants on RV Net..:S

~

[Oasisbob]

Interesting dialogue on this topic. I just want to go camping close to home.The RV dealers should be vocal on this as well. Can anyone suggest an E mail adress that would be effective for writting to OPRD?

[rhagfo]

donn0128 wrote:
Bob,
As a camp host, albeit retired I can hear your pain. This has been going on for the past 4 years or so. Even summers park availability has been near zero. Couple of reasons for that. OPRD upper managment chose several years ago to put their available money into new parks instead of upgrading current facilities. So we now have underused parks like the monster in north central Oregon, while funds get cut to the rest of the parks. Its omly going to get worse in the near term as more people buy/try RVing. After Labor day most parks start cutting out their temporary help, so there are fewer employees. The end result close parts of the park.
BTW have you tried Stub Stewart yet?

I will add to Don's post. Closing of Loops and parks in the off season has several reasons.

During the off season there is a lot of maintenance that is done within closed loops. Sometimes service upgrades.

Lack of campers to fill, this is changing currently we are seeing more campers into the shoulder season and off season. The park we are currently in kept the back sites open an extra two to three weeks this year due to the number of campers.

Reduced cost of operations, it takes fewer Rangers and Hosts for fewer campsites. The goal is to have enough sites to handle the camper demand. It appears at this time we are seeing more and more campers that are camping in to the off season. It takes time to document these and establish a trend and how to plan for the increase in off season camping.

To ksg5000, Keven, there are four other parks, that are less then 50 miles from Beverly Beach, all with beach access that are open all year, Cape Lookout, Nehalem Bay, Devils Lake, and South Beach why not try one of those parks, rather than cancel?

Weather is another reason,cold on the east side, and valley, storms on the coast.
We have winter hosted at Beachside, the park is closed from October 31st to March 15, the reason is winter storms. During our time there the Pacific Ocean came into the campground along with a good amount of driftwood some of it pretty large.

Oasisbob, Donn0128 mentioned that the new Park In NE Oregon took dollars from maintenance, well the park he mentioned you try LL Stub Stewart was the first new park in the state in 30 years, when it opened 10 years ago. These parks are new are more campsites available.

We have hosted at Stub's and it is a very nice park about 35 miles west of downtown Portland. Hiking and biking abound, it is located at the halfway point on the Banks to Vernoina State Trail, large sites with 50 amp electrical and sewer.

The link below will take you to where you can provide feedback to OPRD.
Oregon State Parks

[BarabooBob]

Here in Wisconsin, we get a bit of snow. Many of the state parks keep a few campsites open but there is no water hookup. They drain the water systems somewhere around November 1. It may sound strange but there are usually more tent campers than RV when the temps get below 40 degrees.
The maintenance guys plow the snow when they arrive in the morning. If we get a substantial snowfall nobody goes anywhere until the plows arrive.

[Gdetrailer]

You DO realize that there ARE 49 OTHER States that you CAN select from to camp, right?

I personally feel that your expectations are totally unrealistic, especially ANYWHERE there might be freezing or subfreezing temperatures..

In winter time, roads MUST be cleared and kept clear at the cost of tax payers pockets.

Campgrounds would have to be staffed even when the roads are not clear enough to be safe for staff or campers.

Campgrounds would have to be staffed if no one or one camper is present at the cost of the tax payers..

Then there is silly things like making sure there is power, water, sewage, bathhouses all working, JUST FOR YOU..

YOUR "demands" for keeping the campgrounds "open" in winter just for YOU puts OTHERS (staff and road crews) in potential danger or harms way (icy roads, heavy snow falls ect). A pretty self centered point of view.

If you feel that you MUST winter camp, go to another State that has campgrounds open in the winter or do what many sane folks do, migrate SOUTH where it is warmer during the winter..

[Lwiddis]

“will write to OSP if I can find out who to write. ”

Write to your legislators with a copy to the state park chief. Look online for his/her name and address. Forget ranting if you want it read and considered. Ask why not open, don’t preach.

[goducks10]

Hard to maintain parks for a few campers on a weekend that will sit empty all week.

[monkey44]

If a park is not open, how does it know it will not fill, or at least get enough camping revenue to upkeep the sites? Especially in temperate climates.

And, as long as some parks pay a reservation fee to outside contractors we can't use that money to hire workers. There must be a large profit in reservations, otherwise no corporation would do it. So, when management says, "NO FUNDS", it's because they give it away. I believe we (any park) should open, and give people work that need it in the off season, even if it only breaks even. The parks stays open and clean, people get work, and campers can camp.

An example, a little different, but illustrates the point.

We had a volunteer BOD running our snack-bar for summer baseball league for about fifteen years. Made about $5K-$8K per season for the teams. BOD decided to outsource the snack bar, and did. New snack bar contract paid $800 to the league. BOD said, at least we get income. BOD decided it was too lazy to run the snack bar - which only took two people per game (25 games - BOD was 25 adults, so two games each) so the team (kids) lost the difference between $5k and $800 ... that's a incidental incident of sub contracting work.... IT's never less expensive due to insurance, labor, training, profit, and all the other components.

IT's most often about convenience, but NOT about lack of funds. We could have HIRED people to run it, and still made money for the teams.