Comments
Itchy-Cartoonist1808 t1_j7yelu2 wrote
Wait. So no more 50$ a year permits it will be per person entry?
This winter, the WRAC funded the Cle Elum Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest to provide additional enforcement. Rangers go out first thing in the morning on weekends to Gold Creek Sno-Park with a QR code so the unaware can buy a Sno-Park permit on the spot with their smartphone. This change could offer a glimpse into the future of winter recreation around the increasingly busy Mountains to Sound Greenway.
WashingtonPass OP t1_j80iaxe wrote
There's talk about a per person fee but it will probably never happen. The thing at Gold Creek is different, they're selling passes electronically to make it easier to buy, but they're still good for parking and not related to how many people are on the trail. They're doing this because people who don't buy a pass and then get a ticket, aren't funding the program the ticket money just goes where all parking tickets go, so if they can sell passes instead of writing tickets that puts them in a good place.
Itchy-Cartoonist1808 t1_j811uaq wrote
That is certainly the most professional way to handle that scenario. 🤘🏻🤘🏻
SereneDreams03 t1_j80aoki wrote
I went to a Sno-Park near Snoqualmie pass last weekend, and I was definitely glad I bought a pass. On my way back to my car, I saw that almost half the vehicles had been issued tickets because they didn't have a pass. I heard the tickets were $150.
WashingtonPass OP t1_j81r1ue wrote
For what it's worth I've seen somebody patrolling Gold Creek and Cabin Creek every time I've been there lately. The Times says they write a lot of tickets every weekend all winter at Gold Creek.
I buy a season permit in December because you only have to go out a couple times before it's cheaper, and I love cross country skiing. The Methow trail system is $28 a day, the Snow Park system is a great deal if you use it a lot.
WashingtonPass OP t1_j7xi6jd wrote
This is a good, long article on our Sno Park program, its history, funding, the way it's run, and changes that might come in the following years.
> SNOQUALMIE PASS — Washington’s Sno-Park program is flush with nearly $2 million in revenue, almost double pre-pandemic sales. So, when you buy a permit for a day or season of sledding, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing — some of the cheapest ways to play outside in winter — who decides how the money is spent?
> The nine volunteer members of Washington’s Winter Recreation Advisory Committee sit down every summer to dole out dollars for the season ahead. Come winter, they check on the fruits of their labor firsthand.
> Last month, the WRAC met at the state’s busiest winter recreation hub, Snoqualmie Pass. The committee consists of six area members who come from different geographic parts of the state, plus three snowmobilers. The program’s bylaws stipulate that members represent the whole state, not their particular patch.