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, about 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.
This is what you need to do in Edmonds to increase revenue to run your parks. People come from all over South Snohomish Co. and North King Co. to use your parks for free unless they are renting a space for some special event. Create an Edmonds City Park Fun Pass that’s needed on all but a few special free for everyone days like the state does with State Parks. When I move, I’ll be first in line to buy one of those passes and even brag in MEN about how I’m supporting your Parks and the Edmonds natural environment. I’d pay up to $50/yr. to assure such an opportunity for the Dog Park, Yost Park Trails, City Park and Civic Field Parks. The waterfront center sells memberships, so sell memberships in your great city parks, instead of lamely threatening to close them without more property tax. Any sixth grader in Social Studies can come up with the just raising taxes solution to give everyone what they want.