Time To Take A Trip To A National Park While You Can Afford It

National Park Admission Fees Are About To Drastically Increase.

National Park admissions are planned to rise and not by a nominal fee either. They are planning to raise the price from $30 a car, all the way up to $70 a car. So now a family will not only have to save up for the gas and food for the road trip but also be ready to drop close to a $100 per Park. Admission prices for motorcycles and walk-ins would also practically double.

Seventeen National Parks are included in the planned price jump. The price would only be inflated during the peak season when people actually have time to go. The proposed fee would increase the National Parks Service’s annual income by $70 million, 700 hundred thousand of which would be used for future park projects.

“We need to have the vision to look at the future of our parks and take action in order to ensure that our grandkids’ grandkids will have the same if not better experience than we have today, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement.”

The loophole to this admission fee increase would be the “America the Beautiful” pass which is a seasonal pass that includes admission to over 2000 Federal Parks including the 17 that are expected to get a price hike. The National Park Service is open to discussion over the price hike and welcomes feedback from the public. Message them before November 23rd to have your voice heard. You can message them here or send them a letter to 1849 C Street, NW Mail Stop: 2346 Washington, D.C. 20240.

Watch the video below.

As Reported By Jennifer Calfas, MSN.com

Here are all the affected parks and the months’ price increases would be in effect:

May 1 through Sept. 30:

  • Arches National Park
  • Bryce Canyon National Park
  • Canyonlands National Park
  • Denali National Park
  • Glacier National Park
  • Grand Canyon National Park
  • Grand Teton National Park
  • Olympic National Park
  • Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park
  • Yellowstone National Park
  • Yosemite National Park
  • Zion National Park

June 1 through Oct. 30

  • Acadia National Park
  • Mount Rainier National Park
  • Rocky Mountain National Park
  • Shenandoah National Park

Jan. 1 through May 31

  • Joshua Tree National Park

Earlier this year, the agency raised its price on its Lifetime Senior Pass from $10 to $80. Before the price increase, hundreds of thousands of people ages 62 and over applied for the passes, which grant them lifetime access to more than 2,000 sites and parks across the U.S.

Similar to the suggested uptick in prices, the more expensive senior pass came as a result of Obama-era congressional legislation aimed at addressing infrastructure and maintenance issues at national parks.