National Parks – how much $ is too much?

Just as I am complaining to Parks Canada about their too high fees, the Americans are looking at a big jump in annual pass prices.

Last week I told you about the new, $80 America the Beautiful pass the federal government will be selling beginning New Year’s Day. It will gain you access to national parks, U.S. Forest Service lands, the vast Bureau of Land Management empire, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuges, and, phew, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation properties.

What I haven’t been able to decipher just yet is, in response to this pass, whether we’ll see some hike in daily, weekly or annual entrance fees to parks around the nation.

But would that really be surprising? I mean, this new pass effectively raises the ceiling for national park entrance fees, since the outgoing National Parks Pass cost $50 and the new ATB pass represents a whopping 60 percent increase.

The ATB pass also represents a 25 percent increase from the currently available $65 Golden Eagle Pass that gets you into all the same lands as the newly minted ATB pass.

… more

National Parks Traveler: Fee Creep In the Parks

UPDATE: A Rant Against the Public Lands Pass – Park Remark

Taking Sides on America the Beautiful Pass – Wild Wilderness