Last year, Oregon Parks and Recreation announced steep hikes in fees in order to maintain services. The agency decided to soften the increase by offering permits for free through public libraries, said parks spokesperson Lauren Wirtis.
“The annual parking permits doubled, and the day use fees both went up and there are more parks that require them,” Wirtis said. “And so yes, that exactly was what was on our mind when we were working on this program.”
Oregon State Libraries and Oregon Parks and Recreation each contributed 100 state parks permits, and those are now spread across 82 Oregon libraries, where they can be checked out for free.
Be sure to check with your library before planning a trip: For example, the Veneta, Creswell and Oakridge libraries offer Oregon parks passes, but the Eugene Public Library does not.
Wirtis said the hang-tags were distributed so that libraries closer to parks that charge fees received more passes.
For residents, day passes for state parks that require them are $10 and annual passes are $60.
