Updated: April 2019
Besides a bit of wisdom and big savings on men’s hair products, I’ve enjoyed few benefits of growing older. But last year, I found a great one, and just in the nick of time to save some money on our then-upcoming vacation: seniors 62 and older can purchase a lifetime pass to National Parks for only $80 and enjoy admission to any of our national parks and many other federal lands without an admission fee.
In the spirit of full transparency, I didn’t qualify at the time for the pass because I’m was still too young. But, my wife qualified, and before and until she read that prior sentence, we generally traveled together in the same vehicle. That’s how the National Park Pass works: the pass owner and accompanying passengers in a single, private, non-commercial vehicle are admitted to national parks and federal lands with no admission fee.
We discovered this benefit just in time to gain some extra savings, but a bit too late to get the best possible bargain.
We discovered and took advantage of this benefit just in time to gain some extra savings, and a bit too late to get the best possible bargain. Until 2017, the senior life time pass has been just $10, and increased to $80 for a lifetime pass in 2017. (For the record, my wife wasn’t quite old enough to get the really cheap lifetime pass, but there’s no use complaining about that nuance.)
For our 2018 summer vacation, we visited Denali National Park in Alaska, Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, and Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks in Washington. Remembering to pack the pass card and taking it with us at all of those locations, we recovered the cost of my wife’s purchase and save some additional money. (And she’ll love that because it’s like shopping sale prices with additional coupons where she always saves, saves, saves!)
Early in 2018, the Department of Interior floated an idea to more than double all park admission fees. Most of the commenting public told Interior to take a hike, and they abandoned the dramatic rate increase. But still, park admissions will increase by $5 to $15 at national parks on June 1, 2018, just in time for the summer peak season.
Purchasing my wife’s senior national park pass was like shopping sales prices with additional coupons, where she always saves, saves, saves!
By the way, if you’re too young to get a senior lifetime pass, the National Park Service offers a variety of different passes. For example, there’s an annual pass for $80. It works the same way as the senior pass in allowing the pass owner and accompanying passengers in a single car admission into the park. There’s a free lifetime pass for permanently disabled U.S. citizens. There’s a fourth grade pass, a volunteer pass, and an access pass, too. It’s best to check out the link to explore all your options.
How To Get a National Park Pass
There are two ways to get a park pass. If you’re visiting an admission-charging park, you generally can buy the pass at the park admission office. In some parks where admission is charged at an entry point and not at a main visitor center, you may need to pay the daily entry fee first. If so, you generally can go to the visitor center and they will apply the original fee towards your pass purchase. The upside to buying at a park is you’re already there. The downside is lines can be long since park passes most often are sold at the same locations as general admission and other attraction tickets. And, not all national parks sell the lifetime passes.
You also can buy national park passes online, but there are several caveats. First, there’s a separate process for an annual pass and a senior pass. Second, because of high demand, senior pass sales were outsourced to a third-party website It’s a longer process slowed even more by high demand AND there is no way to expedite your order. So if you have a trip coming up and need the pass before departure, be sure to allow lots of time. (We’re told that 6 to 8 weeks is not unusual!) And, it’s $90 because of an additional $10 shipping charge. Here’s the link to the standard park pass purchase page.
Fortunately we had a debit and credit card, because the US Government didn’t accept cash.
For us, buying was a two-stop process. We were hiking at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield and inquired about a senior pass purchase there. The friendly rangers informed us they weren’t sold at KeMo because there is no admission fee at the park. He directed us instead to the US Army Corps of Engineers office at the Allatoona Dam in nearby Acworth, and provided us with the phone number so we could call in advance. He said that while the Corps office sold the passes, they sometimes ran out of them so calling first was a good idea. Thus, on a subsequent hiking visit to that location, my wife was able to purchase her senior pass. And if you’re visiting the the Corps location, bring a debit or credit card, as the US government didn’t accept cash at this location.
Free Park Admissions
Of the 417 US National Parks, only 118 charge admission. Others are free to visit. But even when admission is free, you’ll often want to pay for specific activities that require a ticket from concessionaires. For example, for our planned Denali trip, there was a park admission fee, plus separate tickets for any of the guided bus tours and similar activities.
One more bargain note: the National Park Service generally waives admission to all parks on four days each year:
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January
- The first day of National Parks Week in April
- Public Lands Day in September
- Veterans Day in November
National Parks Week
The National Parks Service is joining the National Parks Foundation — the official charity of the US National Parks — in celebration National Parks Week. Generally, this occurs the third week of April each year. Throughout the US, parks will offer special visitor and education programs to commemorate the week. While activities vary at all parks, most will observe the following:
Volunteer Day (part of National Volunteer Week)
- April 22:Earth Day—Let’s get out and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System and the Wild & Scenic Rivers System!
- April 28:Military & Veteran Recognition Day
- April 29:National Park Rx Day
