"We've had a successful partnership with Washington State Parks for many years," said Chelan PUD Parks Manager Ryan Baker back in January, when the utility announced that camping reservations at Beebe Bridge Park were moving to the state system. It read like routine paperwork. The practical change for anyone planning a weekend on the Columbia River next year is this: the park itself hasn't changed hands, but the way you reserve a spot in it has, and the new calendar is already open for some dates next year.
If you've pulled off Highway 97 at the park on the Orondo side of the river, you know the layout. Forty-six RV and tent sites along the water, a two-lane boat launch, a sandy swimming beach, and sport courts that see steady use all summer. For years, getting a site meant showing up and hoping. That era is over, and the new system rewards people who plan ahead, sometimes by close to a year.
Ownership Didn't Change. The Calendar Did.
Chelan PUD still owns Beebe Bridge Park, and PUD staff are still the ones maintaining it. What moved to Washington State Parks is the reservation system, the shelter bookings, and day-to-day park patrol. The transition is happening in phases through early 2028, with the two agencies collaborating during the handoff rather than flipping a switch overnight.
Beebe Bridge isn't alone in this arrangement. Three other Columbia River parks that Chelan PUD owns, Wenatchee Confluence, Daroga, and Lincoln Rock, are managed the same way: PUD keeps the title and the maintenance crews, State Parks runs the booking system and adds its statewide discount programs to the mix.
Here's the split, side by side:
| Still true | New as of 2026 |
|---|---|
| Chelan PUD owns the park and maintains it | Reservations run through washington.goingtocamp.com, not the PUD office |
| Camping season is April 15 through October 15 | Booking opens up to nine months ahead of your stay |
| Sport courts, beach, and boat launch are free to use | State Parks discounts now apply, including foster family, senior, and disabled veteran rates |
| PUD customers still get free day-use access | Park patrol and safety oversight shifted to State Parks |
The Nine-Month Booking Window
The booking window works like this. Starting July 15, 2026, Beebe Bridge campsites opened for booking exactly nine months ahead of the preferred arrival date, including stays arriving on Memorial Day, July Fourth, and Labor Day.
Run the calendar forward from today and the picture gets specific fast. Memorial Day is May 31, 2027. For a stay arriving that day, booking opened August 31, 2026. For another arrival date over the weekend, count back nine months from that arrival date.
Independence Day is July 4, 2027. For a stay arriving that day, booking opens October 4, 2026, about two weeks from today. For another arrival date over the weekend, count back nine months from that arrival date.
Labor Day is September 6, 2027. For a stay arriving that day, booking opens December 6, 2026. For another arrival date over the weekend, count back nine months from that arrival date.
| 2027 Holiday Date (for an arrival that day) | Nine Months Before (Booking Opens) |
|---|---|
| Memorial Day, May 31 | August 31, 2026, already open |
| Independence Day, July 4 | October 4, 2026 |
| Labor Day, September 6 | December 6, 2026 |
None of this was true a year ago. Under the old PUD-run system, sites were largely first come, first served, and the whole idea of booking a river campsite nine months out didn't exist. The habit of "we'll figure it out when we get there" that longtime users built up over years doesn't map cleanly onto the new tool, and the people who adjust fastest are the ones who get first pick of the good spots along the water.
The Free Parking Pass Runs on a Different Clock
Camping reservations and day-use parking are two separate systems, and it's easy to assume the whole park went digital and statewide at once. It didn't. Chelan PUD's own day-use parking pass still exists, still costs nothing, and still runs on its own calendar.
The pass is good at four parks: Beebe Bridge, Daroga, Lincoln Rock, and Wenatchee Confluence. It covers parking for swimming, picnicking, and general day use, though not overnight camping. Any Chelan PUD residential electric customer can apply for one pass per household, and it's transferable across up to four vehicles as long as you write each license plate number on the pass in permanent ink. The 2026 pass runs January 1 through December 31, which means it has to be renewed every year rather than treated as a one-time sign-up. If you already carry a Discover Pass for other state park visits around Washington, you don't need the PUD pass at all, since the Discover Pass works at these same four parks.
Why This Park Is Free in the First Place
It's worth understanding why a public utility runs a campground at all. Chelan PUD owns 17 parks covering more than 700 acres across the county, and they exist because of the licensing conditions attached to the Rocky Reach, Rock Island, and Lake Chelan hydroelectric projects. Public recreation access along the river is part of what the utility agreed to provide in exchange for operating those dams.
That backstory explains the eligibility rule for the free parking pass. It's tied to being a residential electric customer, not simply a Chelan County resident, because the parks were built as a benefit for the ratepayers who fund the utility. If you get your power from Chelan PUD, you're already paying into the system that keeps Beebe Bridge's boat launch and beach free to use.
The Courts Don't Need a Reservation
Not everything at the park runs on advance booking. The two pickleball courts, the tennis ball court, and the basketball nets are open to anyone during the same April 15 through October 15 window as the campground, no reservation required, no fee. If pickleball is your evening habit, that part of your routine hasn't changed at all.
For campers who'd rather stay spontaneous, the new system still leaves room for it. Same-day reservations are available until 2 p.m., which functions as the closest modern equivalent to the old walk-up culture. There's also a flexible dates search tool on the State Parks reservation site that lets you plug in a general time frame and see what's actually open, useful if your plans depend on weather or a free weekend rather than a fixed date.
What This Means If You're Planning Ahead
The practical takeaway is simple. If Beebe Bridge has been part of your summer for years, the park hasn't lost anything you loved about it. The beach, the boat launch, the courts, and the free access for PUD customers are all still there. What's different is the nine-month booking window. For arrivals on the holiday dates, Memorial Day's booking date has passed; July Fourth's is October 4, and Labor Day's is December 6.
Knowing the calendar can help you choose a site, including one by the boat launch.
This is the sort of local detail that shapes how people actually live here, not just how a listing photo makes a place look. If Orondo's mix of river access, orchard country, and small-town pace is part of what you're weighing for a future here, Find Your Chelan can walk you through the neighborhoods that come with it. Start Your Lake Chelan Search whenever you're ready to see what's out there.
