In an effort to help fund its system of State Parks, Washington began requiring visitors to purchase a Discover Pass in June 2011. Visitors staying overnight and paying for the use of facilities such as campsites are not required to purchase the pass. Passes may be purchased at the parks or at most sporting goods outlets where fishing and hunting licenses are sold. The cost is $30 for an annual pass, plus a handling fee if purchased at a dealer instead of directly from the state.
Since this is a relatively new concept for the State, they are finding a few bugs that need to be cleaned up. The pass is tied to your vehicle and marked with your license plate number. It is not transferable to another vehicle. So if relatives show up, you have to take your car to the beach, not theirs.
Recent legislation would allow an additional vehicle to be added to the pass, but as of this writing, it had not yet been signed into law by the Governor. This would be a handy feature, since my family tends to visit the parks in the family car but to cut firewood using the pickup truck (firewood permits are issued for use on state lands, so the pass is required there, too!). Check the Discover Pass website to see when this feature is actually enabled.
Another problem arose when I went to renew the registration on my car. Washington issues new license plates periodically, and I was given new plates with a new number. The result? My month-old Discover Pass was suddenly no good. After some phone calls, I found the solution. I needed to send a copy of my old registration (with the old plate number), a copy of my new registration (with the new plate number) and the Discover Pass itself to Olympia and they would issue a replacement pass showing my new license plate number. In the meantime, I was without a pass. However, they were quick to respond. I mailed my information to them on a Monday and had my new pass delivered to my mail box on Thursday.
Another quirk has to do with enforcement. On a recent trip to a State Park, I was told I needed to hang the pass from my rear view mirror at all times while I was in the park, even while driving. When I protested that the pass blocked my view of the road (particularly of pedestrians on the right shoulder), I was told I faced a $99 fine if I did not comply.
However, after making some inquiries, I found that both the Washington State Parks Department and the State Patrol advise pass holders to remove the pass while driving. As with most states, Washington law forbids any object from obscuring the driver’s view of the road. The confusion probably stems from the wording found on my old pass which stated: “Important: Hang from rear view mirror with Pass facing the front of the vehicle when in use.” The new pass adds the line “Remove before driving vehicle.“
