Oregon State Parks to close multiple campgrounds, including Silver Falls, for construction

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department will close or partly close a handful of parks and campgrounds for construction work beginning this fall and winter.

The closures include highly popular sites such as Silver Falls, Fort Stevens, Milo McIver and Bullards Beach, among others, for projects such as paving, sewer replacement and new electric lines.

Money for the projects came from $50 million in general obligation bonds approved by the state Legislature in 2021 and includes work on eight state parks and campgrounds.

“We thank visitors for their patience and continued support as we work to repair aging infrastructure and improve facilities at several state parks,” OPRD Director Lisa Sumption said in a news release. “This commitment to our state park system will benefit future visitors and the economy.”

Construction closures and partial closures starting in 2024 (dates subject to change):

• Sept. 16 : Milo McIver is scheduled to close its campground through March 2025 to refurbish a restroom building and do repaving. The campground, group camps and hiker/biker area will be closed. The day-use areas will remain open.
• Sept. 16: Silver Falls State Park is scheduled to close its campground (except cabins 1-10) through June 30, 2025, to allow crews to replace the B-Loop restroom and repave A Loop. During the closure, all other park facilities will remain open, including all trails, trailheads, day-use areas and South Falls Lodge. Next year work will begin on adding a new campground and visitor center.
• Sept. 16: Bullards Beach is scheduled to close its campground (except the horse camp) through March 17, 2025, for upgrades to the main sewer line and lift station to accommodate increased demand and reduce service disruptions. All campsites, overnight restroom facilities, yurts, meeting hall and dump station will be closed. The day-use area will remain open with limited disruptions.
• Nov. 1: Nehalem Bay State Park is scheduled to close the entire park including the campground and day-use areas through June 30, 2025, to install new water and electrical lines, add restroom and shower buildings, renovate nine campsites to improve accessibility and repave and add traffic calming improvements to the park entry road.
• Late fall/early winter 2024: Fort Stevens is scheduled to close campground loops L, M, N, O and C as well as cabins and yurts and the South Lake restroom through 2025 for wastewater upgrades, electrical upgrades, paving work, water system upgrades and a new restroom building. All other campsites and day-use areas will remain open. The historic Guardhouse will be a part of the work and include roof restoration, exterior cleaning and repair and upgrades to basic utilities.

Several parks have scheduled closures or partial closures starting in 2025 for construction including the campground at Clyde Holliday, the campground at Collier and the campground and day-use area at Cape Lookout .

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast . Urness is the author of “ Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon ” and “ Hiking Southern Oregon .” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon State Parks to close multiple campgrounds, including Silver Falls, for construction