Camping limits taking effect at state parks

In mid-August, Washington is introducing new limits to how long you can camp at a state park.

Previously, each individual park was responsible for establishing its own limit on how many consecutive nights someone could spend camping within park boundaries between April and September. Parks weren’t given much flexibility, though: The limit had to be between 10 and 14 nights. Between October and March, all parks limited campers’ stays to 20 consecutive nights.

Now, the state parks department is simplifying the rules.

Under the new rules, no one is allowed to camp in a given state park for more than 10 nights in a given 30-day period. Campers are allowed to stay at different state parks for a combined total of more than 10 nights over a 30-day stretch, according to the department’s proposal.

Additionally, campers are limited to a total of 90 nights spent in all Washington state parks each year.

With the changes, the state parks department hopes to make limits more consistent across each of the state’s parks and each month of the year, while promoting camping for recreational purposes and not residential ones, according to the proposal.

The department estimates that the new limits will affect less than 1 percent of the state parks’ camping reservations.

The new rules were approved by the Washington State Parks Recreation Commission on July 18 and will go into effect on Aug. 19. Existing reservations that exceed 10 nights will still be honored.