National Park Visits Don’t Need to Cost A Lot Of Money

In 2020, my husband and I started touring US National Parks. Although we had been to a few before 2020, I think it was then that we decided we’d try and visit them all.

As of this writing, there are 63 National Parks. The parks are only part of the preserved wild spaces in the United States, of which there are a total of 424 designated locations including forests, rivers, seashores, battlefields, trails, and more (Source).

When we started visiting the parks, we purchased a national park pass. This can be obtained from the website usparkpass.com or from a national park visitor center at one of the parks.

The pass is $80.00 USD and is good for one calendar year (starting when you obtain it). Using the pass includes not only the pass owner but all those in a non-commercial vehicle, too. Wow! This is a deal!

For example, when we went on a vacation to tour several national parks in the fall of 2021, the pass more than paid for itself.

The parks we visited included, Arches (2 days), Grand Canyon (3 days), Petrified Forest (1 day), and Saguaro (2 days). I listed the days to give you an idea of how many times we would have had to pay to get into the park. Entrance fees vary depending on the park (source), vary but I used $35.00 per vehicle without a pass. I made the graphic to show an example only. Please consult the park you want to visit, using the source above to know how much the entrance fees are for that particular location.

We also twice visited Haleakala National Park on Maui with the same card (during the same calendar year). This saved another $70.00. If you subtract the $80.00 from just one park visit for the four parks, (we visited each park more than once on the trip), you save $60.00 minimum!

Free Alternatives

But, let’s say you don’t have the $80.00 or don’t feel you will get your money’s worth out of the pass. What’s the alternative if you still want to visit some of our national parks?

If you aren’t picky, you can explore some wonderful wild spaces for FREE! Sixteen of our national parks do not charge an entrance fee. I first learned of this last summer when our eldest son ventured to Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. You can enter the park free in Voyageurs but getting there might cost some money. The park is mostly water so you might need to rent boats or take the ferry.

Recently, I was surprised to learn that there was no entrance fee to our national park on the US Virgin Island of St. John! As we got ready for our day on the beach in this tropical National Park, I realized I had left the pass in our car at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. While we still had WiFi, I looked it up, and sure enough — no fee to enter the park on St. John. After all, it comprises 60% of the island, and they want people to visit (source).

However, like Voyageurs, you have to boat over or take the ferry to St. John. Both will cost money. Hmmm, maybe there are some common reasons to not charge entry fees at these parks.

At home, I delved deeper into which US National Parks do not charge entry fees. I found that there are sixteen total parks (16/63) that do not charge to enter.

According to Roadtrippers.com, the free-to-enter parks include:

Redwoods National Park, Northern Cascades National Park, and Channel Islands National Park are all in the Pacific Northwest and are free to enter.

Great Basin National Park (Nevada), Hot Springs National Park (Arkansas), Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Ohio), New River Gorge National Park (West Virginia), Great Smokey Mountains National Park (Tennesee & North Carolina), Voyageurs National Park (Minnesota), Congaree National Park (South Carolina), USVI National Park (St. John), Biscayne National Park (Florida), and three parks in Alaska: Gates of the Arctic National Park, Kobuk Valley National Park, and Lake Clark National Park.

I could not find any concrete reason why some parks are free and some are not, but I suppose that remote location, accessibility limitations, such as being only accessible by flight or water, or where the conserved park is (underwater), might play a role in the lack of entrance fees. Our parks need to be visited, no matter how remote. I think a lack of entrance fees might encourage some to take advantage of a visit.

Some parks, like the immensely popular Great Smokey Mountain National Park, do not have an entry fee but might start charging for parking, as soon as this year. Since this is the most consistently visited park in the nation, according to Roadtrippers.com, I am including a link to the published fees directly from the park service. The parking fees are nominal.

"What if I want to go to a popular park like the Grand Canyon for free?" - I ask!

Lastly, there are two other free ways to gain entry to our national parks.

There are several days throughout the year when park entrance fees are waived at all national parks. These are the following dates for 2023:

January 16: Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance

April 22: Beginning of National Park Week (also Earth Day)

August 4: Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act

September 23: National Public Lands Day

November 11: Veterans Day

Source: National Park Service, 2023.

Take A Fourth Grade Student With You

Every fourth-grade student in the US can obtain a free park pass! See the details here. The program is now called Every Kid Outdoors. As with the other passes, it includes the pass holder (fourth graders) and all persons in their non-commercial vehicle. What a great way to encourage our youth to get outside and learn to love nature!Sun

Take Away Tips

There are ways to save on National Park trips in the United States. I would highly recommend the Amercia The Beautiful Park Pass. It saved us so much money!

Group your park visits together to get the most bang for your buck with the pass. This is what we did in 2021. The pass allowed us to visit the park in the morning, re-enter in the afternoon, and/or visit the next day, or even take a quick hike before heading out for a new state in the car.

Visit a park on a free entrance day (there are five in 2023).

Visit the park with a fourth-grade student once they obtain their voucher (see above). The vouchers are good for 12 months.

If you'll be at one park for several days, stay inside the park without leaving. You'll only pay the entrance fee once.

There are numerous ways to save on a trip to see our National Parks. I can highly recommend visiting the following parks because I've been to them!

USVI National Park

Haleakala National Park

Joshua Tree National Park

Everglades National Park

Grand Canyon National Park

Great Smokey Mountains National park

Acadia National Park

White Sands National Park

Saguaro National Park

Petrified Forest National Park

Arches National Park (my personal favorite - so far)

Rocky Mountain National Park

Badlands National Park

What National Park would you recommend? Why?

This story was originally published on my Medium.com page, on Feburary 27, 2023.