Lane County explains parking passes, fee areas at parks

Before you pull out of Eugene for Howard Buford Recreation Area, Armitage Park, or a Fern Ridge boat launch, Lane County wants you to check one thing: whether the lot you plan to use sits inside a fee area. The answer can be a $5 day pass, a $40 annual pass, no pass at all, or a separate permit if your activity goes beyond ordinary parking.

How the fee-area system works

Lane County Parks manages 4,364 acres across 68 sites in a county that stretches over 4,800 square miles, so the parking rules are not built for one-size-fits-all use. The county’s parking-pass page identifies fee-area parking and links to purchase information, while the separate Park Rules and Fees page points to camping, special events, rentals and other charges.

The document titled “The following schedule of user fees is established for Lane County Parks” sets per-vehicle parking charges and also includes shelter reservations and other uses.

What each pass costs

For ordinary fee-area parking, the day pass is $5.00 per vehicle and the annual parking pass is $40.00 per vehicle. The same fee schedule lists a senior annual pass at $20.00 for people age 62 or older, and a veteran annual pass at $0.00 for a verified 100% disability rating or $20.00 for a 25% to 99% disability rating.

The schedule also lists a restitution fee for an annual pass at $72.00, and a moorage annual parking pass at $30.00 for seasonal moorage holders.

What to buy before you leave home

Day users

If you are heading out for a quick picnic, a swim, or a trail stop in a fee area, the safest assumption is that you need a day pass unless the park is on Lane County’s no-pass list. Mount Pisgah Arboretum’s parking page lists Lane County Parks day passes at $5 for motor vehicles at Howard Buford Recreation Area.

For people who visit county parks more than once in a season, the $40 annual pass can be the cheaper option after a handful of fee-area trips. Lane County’s online purchase and payment portal handles that kind of repeat use.

Campers

Camping is handled through the county’s Park Rules and Fees page and its reservation system, not just through the parking-pass page. Lane County Parks and Marinas reservations cover camping, day use, boating, annual passes and Camp Lane, so overnight visitors should check the reservation path for the specific site rather than assume one payment covers everything.

Richardson Park is Lane County’s largest developed park at 115 acres and includes 88 campsites on Fern Ridge Reservoir. Armitage Park is a 64-acre McKenzie River destination near Coburg with camping, a paved boat ramp and large group sites, while Harbor Vista on the Siuslaw River and Baker Bay on Dorena Lake combine camping with day-use recreation.

Boaters

Boat access can trigger a different kind of payment than a simple day-use stop. Lane County’s fee schedule includes the $30.00 moorage annual parking pass for seasonal moorage holders, and some park sites offer boat launches, fishing access or riverfront parking that may fall inside fee areas.

Perkins Peninsula Park, a 42-acre Fern Ridge site, has a boat launch, fishing pier, swimming area and nature trail, while Armitage Park includes a paved boat ramp. If your trip revolves around launching rather than hiking or picnicking, check whether the site is on the no-pass list, whether the launch sits in a fee area and whether your situation matches the moorage category.

Out-of-town visitors

If you are coming in from elsewhere in Oregon or from outside the county, the trick is not to memorize every park. It is to start with the fee-area page, check the Park Rules and Fees page for your activity, and then confirm whether your destination is on the no-pass list before you drive out of town.

In a county as spread out as Lane, a single outing can move from Eugene to Veneta, from the McKenzie River to the Siuslaw River, or from Fern Ridge Reservoir to Dorena Lake. The county’s reservation pages and flyers are the easiest way to avoid paying twice, arriving without the right pass, or assuming that one park’s rules apply to another.

Parks where you do not need a day or annual pass

A revised March 2025 flyer lists these Lane County sites as not requiring a day or annual pass:

• Ada
• Big River
• Bohemia Saddle
• Camp Lane, by reservation only
• Clear Lake Dunes
• Currin Covered Bridge
• Goodpasture Boat Landing, owned by EWEB
• Hayden Bridge, owned by EWEB
• Howard J. Morton
• Leaburg Boat Dam Slide
• Kinney
• Lloyd Knox at Leaburg Lake, owned by EWEB
• Lowell Covered Bridge
• North Jetty, owned by DSL
• Rock Dock
• Siuslaw Falls
• South Beach
• Three Mile Prairie

If your park is on it, you are not buying a day or annual parking pass for that visit.

Special uses need separate permission

Lane County Parks requires special permission before doing activities that are contrary to or not described by park rules, including drone use, firewood harvesting, geocaching, scientific research and small events with fewer than 1,000 attendees.

Bigger events use a separate Special EVENT Permit Application, which keeps casual park use distinct from organized gatherings.

Why the rules look the way they do

Lane County’s Park and Recreation Department was created in 1953, with an early mandate to administer park, recreational, scenic and historical facilities and to identify and acquire additional sites. The system has grown since then into a countywide network of river access, campgrounds, historic bridges, swimming spots, trails and reservoir parks.

Under the November 2018 Lane County Parks & Open Space Master Plan, the county’s parks are meant to be safe, respectful and inclusive places free of hate and discrimination. Fee discussions have continued since Lane County updated parks fees effective April 1, 2020 through county order 20-02-11-04.