National Park Fees to Be Raised This Year
After a six-year moratorium, a few National Parks are moderately raising their entrance fees this year. So far, eight park have raised the entrance fee -- in California, Yosemite's the only park to have an increase -- but others are expected to increase their prices throughout the year. (The 200-plus parks and properties that are free to enter will continue to be so.)
Generally, we're looking at about a 25% bump, with Yosemite's annual pass raised from $40 to $60 a pop. But what happens to the rest of the potential price hikes will depend on each park:
Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, whose Northern California district includes Lassen Volcanic National Park, said the cost of "just driving through the park" is possibly jumping from $10 to $25 per vehicle, while hikers and bikers would see fees go up from $5 to $12 a person, and motorcyclists could see an increase from $5 to $20.
All that said: The price for an America the Beautiful annual pass will remain the same at $80 a year as it has in the past. That cost includes one car-load of people, so, buying one of those passes this year will be an even better deal than before. Senior citizens will still get to take advantage of that sweet, sweet $10 lifetime pass.