Oregon State Parks

Oregon State Parks will increase all camping charges next May, add daily parking fees at 21 sites in October

August 4, 2025

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, staring down a looming budget shortfall to the tune of roughly $30 million, has announced it will once again implement new fees to help fund the state park system.

Cafes? Zip lining? Oregon State Parks searches for new business partners as it faces 14% budget shortfall

July 21, 2025

By KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL/Oregon Public Broadcasting The Oregon State Parks department is facing a 14 percent budget shortfall in the next biennium and to avoid cuts the agency says it’s looking for new business partners that could include everything from new zip-lining operations to tree-climbing tours and unique lodging. One current partner, Leo Fischer, runs Tree Climbing at Silver Falls, a

Oregon State Parks officials soon deciding fate of 150-year-old “Yaquina Muscle Tree” in Newport

May 27, 2025

By KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL/Oregon Public Broadcasting NEWPORT — Anyone driving into Yaquina Bay State Recreation Area will see a majestic Sitka spruce standing in the middle of the road, overlooking the ocean. It’s known as the Yaquina Muscle Tree, because its beefy branches stick out like a flexing bodybuilder. For generations, people have gotten married next to it, taken graduation

Surge of coastal travelers drives Oregon state parks numbers to new record in 2024, but officials concerned

March 17, 2025

By JAMIE HALE/The Oregonian/OregonLive A whopping 53.8 million people made day trips to Oregon’s state parks in 2024, according to data released Friday by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, but rather than celebrate the news, park officials are sounding the alarm. That rise in popularity — a 3 percent increase over 2023’s numbers, and a mere 0.4 percent increase over the

Nonprofit tries to rally community, county and state officials to help buy and restore 950-acre Yachats ridge property

September 21, 2023

By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews YACHATS – Putting a price on a view is no simple thing but one Yachats non-profit is willing to give it a go. And they are not going anywhere as they wait for the price to be right. View the Future has been looking at the ridge view southeast of Yachats for 20 years with an

Yachats trails leader and advocate for Native American truths wins national award from state parks directors

September 5, 2023

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews YACHATS — She’s a self-described “country bumpkin” who hates the spotlight. But Joanne Kittel will have to endure heaps of attention at a Lake Tahoe resort this month when the National Association of State Park Directors presents the Yachats resident with its highest individual honor — the President’s Award. “I was in shock,” Kittel

It’s snowy plover nesting season on the Oregon coast as threatened shorebirds rebound with help of beach restrictions

March 23, 2023

By ZACH URNESS/Salem Statesman Journal Oregon’s cutest shorebird has made a big rally over the past two decades, from the verge of extinction to expanding its range. Western snowy plovers, which nest in beach sand on the Oregon coast and resemble a palm-sized cotton ball with legs, reached an estimated population of 483 in the most recent count, up

Dispute between State Parks and Lane County has closed Heceta lighthouse for more than a year

January 23, 2020

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com Each year more than 800,000 people pull off U.S. Highway 101 to visit the Heceta Head Lighthouse state scenic viewpoint 12 miles south of Yachats. Of those, nearly 50,000 make the windy, half-mile uphill hike to the park’s centerpiece, the Heceta Head Lighthouse. What almost no one has done for nearly a year, however, is actually

Yachats, central Oregon coast businesses reap benefit of another strong tourist season

August 29, 2019

QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com To spend a couple of hours in the Yachats Visitor Center is to glimpse a microcosm of summer tourism here. There’s a surfer dude and his girlfriend cruising the West Coast before returning to their ski resort jobs in Colorado. There are couples from Arizona escaping the blistering summer heat, a group of sisters from Missouri, a

Winter campground hosts say it’s a labor of love

February 21, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Russell and Paula Hagfors get a free place to park their trailer, electricity, sewer and garbage service. In the winter they live in a gated community with a wonderful view of the Pacific Ocean just outside their living room. All they have to do is dodge King tides, hunker down during 60 mph winds and spend four

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Oregon State Parks will increase all camping charges next May, add daily parking fees at 21 sites in October

Cafes? Zip lining? Oregon State Parks searches for new business partners as it faces 14% budget shortfall

Oregon State Parks officials soon deciding fate of 150-year-old “Yaquina Muscle Tree” in Newport

Surge of coastal travelers drives Oregon state parks numbers to new record in 2024, but officials concerned

Nonprofit tries to rally community, county and state officials to help buy and restore 950-acre Yachats ridge property

Yachats trails leader and advocate for Native American truths wins national award from state parks directors

It’s snowy plover nesting season on the Oregon coast as threatened shorebirds rebound with help of beach restrictions

Dispute between State Parks and Lane County has closed Heceta lighthouse for more than a year

Yachats, central Oregon coast businesses reap benefit of another strong tourist season

Winter campground hosts say it’s a labor of love

Letters from readers

$25,000 grant will help View the Future’s community conversations

Look at Medicare Advantage plans carefully before making a decision

Lincoln County has benefitted from Hall’s service for 20 years

Obituaries

Marie Jones of Newport

Rebecca L. Bloch of Yachats

Sandra Lee Dunn of Yachats