Oregon State Parks will open campground reservation window to 6 months

Oregon state parks cabin

A deluxe cabin is nestled into the trees near the marina at The Cove Palisades State Park near Madras in central Oregon.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Correction appended.

Campers will be soon able to book their spring break and summer trips to Oregon state parks.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department announced Monday that it will widen its campground reservation window to six months in advance, starting Jan. 14.

It’s the biggest change to the reservation window since campgrounds reopened at the end of May, after closing in March due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Upon reopening, reservations were only taken for two weeks in advance, though the parks department later expanded that to 30 days.

Prior to the pandemic, campers were allowed to book campsites, yurts and cabins up to nine months in advance at all Oregon state parks.

Oregon parks director Lisa Sumption explained Monday that the shorter reservation window has helped the parks department deal with the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, as well as the financial difficulties of changing, cancelling and refunding reservations.

The temporary closure of state park campgrounds last spring proved to be a huge financial hit to the parks department, resulting in layoffs and a $22 million budget shortfall. The parks department also draws revenue from the Oregon Lottery, which has suffered during the pandemic as well.

“Although revenue stopped during the two-month closure and continues to be less than what we’ve earned in past years, we’ve adjusted our operations and now are comfortable extending the reservation booking window,” Sumption said in the news release. “All of us extend a heartfelt thank you to our visitors as we continue to evaluate our operations to better serve campers and day-use visitors as we head into the spring and summer.”

Park officials are also changing the time that campground reservations open up on a given day, from midnight to 6 a.m. That means campers will now need to wake up first thing in the morning, rather than stay up late, if they want to be the first to book a coveted campsite in advance.

The new six-month window means people will be soon be able to book campsites for Oregon schools’ spring break, March 29 to April 2, as well as for summer vacations.

More changes to the reservation window are likely to come, park officials said. Under a current proposal, the standard reservation window across all state parks would change, allowing flexibility for individual campgrounds to fluctuate between same-day registration up to 18 months in advance. The public has until Jan. 15 to comment on the proposal.

Campground reservations can be made online at oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com, or by phone at 800-452-5687, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

This post has been updated with the following correction: The new window to reserve a campsite is six months. An earlier version of this story listed an incorrect time period.

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

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