Oregon State Parks officials say they had a banner year in 2019 – at least in their campgrounds. While overall visitation to the parks was relatively flat, overnight visits in the system’s 56 campgrounds jumped significantly. 2019 saw 2.93 million camper nights, up from 2.89 million the previous year, and 2.41 in 2013.
Despite the peaks, there were some anomalies RVers might find interesting. Oregon’s coastal region saw the fewest number of visitors since 2015, down to 28.5 million in 2019, with 29.3 million in 2018. And while Silver Falls was the most “popular” park by day-use visitors (1.2 million), camping nights actually decreased to 78,000, down from 2017’s 80,000.
On the other hand, day visits fell off in the Mountain region, but camping nights broke records last year. And if you’re looking to avoid overnight crowding, then write these parks off your list – Fort Stevens near Astoria with 285,425 camping nights, with South Beach and Nehalem Bay chiming in with high numbers of overnighters as well.
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I sure wish Oregon State Parks would consider keeping parks open in the winter that are usually closed, especially those away from the coast. Time after time this month we tried to camp in a state park only to find it locked up. Same goes for no-service USFS campsites. Closed.
Thank god for BLM and Montana and Wyoming Fish and Game administered campsites. They were open.
Hey Oregon, many people are now traveling in four season capable rigs. Why close parks to people who don’t need services like sewer and electricity?