Press Release
May 19, 2025
Annual Discover Pass cost set to increase in October
Media contact
| Name | Sarah Fronk |
|---|---|
| Department | Communications |
| media@parks.wa.gov | |
OLYMPIA – Starting Oct. 1, 2025, the annual Discover Pass will increase from $30 to $45. The Discover Pass is a fee charged to park a vehicle at Washington’s state parks and lands operated by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and Washington Department of Natural Resources.
This increase was passed by the Legislature in April, and on May 17, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the bill into law. This is the first price increase since the Discover Pass was implemented in 2011 despite a period of high inflation.
The operation and maintenance of Washington’s state parks relies heavily on revenue earned by the Discover Pass, camping and other fees. Despite the Discover Pass fee increase, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (State Parks) will not see significant new revenue in the 2025-27 biennium. In response to the state’s budget shortfall, the Legislature reduced general fund appropriations and added new costs to the agency. In the 2025-27 biennium, approximately 71% of the funding for State Parks will be from earned revenue as opposed to about 65% in the current biennium.
The bill made additional changes, including to requirements for off-road vehicles and related to the Lifetime Disabled Veteran’s pass. You can read details of all changes on the Discover Pass website.
The revenue from these fees are a core funding stream to keep state parks open, staffed and operational. Throughout the summer and early fall, we’ll be updating our website and communicating to customers about the fee and other changes.
About Washington’s state parks
State Parks was founded in 1913, making it older than the National Parks system. We operate 124 developed parks, 1,300 miles of trails, more than 6,000 campsites and over 2,700 facilities – including more than 800 historic buildings. Despite managing the fewest number of acres of any state-managed lands agency, our 120,000 acres see the most visitors. More than 40 million people visit each year, including 39 million day-use visitors and 2.3 million overnight visitors.
State Parks relies on its staff to steward its lands for future generations to enjoy. Approximately 82% of staff are on the ground keeping parks open, clean, safe and fun for visitors.