You can be excused for thinking all the Oregon State Parks campsites were booked for the 2017 solar eclipse - the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has already had two rounds of door-busting reservation events, and officials announced that those would be it.

But that won't stop the Oregon State Parks Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes the parks, from doling out a few more.

The foundation announced Wednesday that it will auction off 30 additional campsites at The Cove Palisades State Park in central Oregon - a park that's stunningly gorgeous and within the eclipse's path of totality.

Prospective campers can bid for the sites in an online silent auction, which will take place in five sections, each closing on a different day between May 15 and 22. The sites are RV accessible and located at the Crooked River Campground at the park, reserved for Friday, Aug. 18 through Tuesday, Aug. 22.

The total solar eclipse, which will cross Oregon on it's way over the continental United States, takes place on the morning of Monday, Aug. 21.

The general public is invited to bid, but there is a catch: In order to participate in the auction, you need to be a member of the Oregon State Parks Foundation. You can join with a donation of $25 or more, and must be a member by May 12.

That money will ultimately be a drop in the bucket - bids are starting at $200 per campsite, and the foundation isn't sure how high they will climb by the end.

Foundation representatives have made it clear that this is a fundraiser for the organization, the official nonprofit partner of the parks department. All winning bids will be considered donations to the foundation, which also makes them tax-deductible.

The experience of the eclipse, though, will be the big prize. Longtime eclipse chasers have described a total solar eclipse as profound and potentially life-changing, and the next one won't come to Oregon until 2169.

"We think that they're going to have a really good time if they go," Seth Miller, executive director of the foundation, said. "The side benefit is they become members of the Oregon State Parks Foundation, and support our work enhancing the experience of using Oregon State Parks."

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB