U.S. Park Pass

I bought one for a trip out west and now use it when I happen upon a USFS campground. Yeah, it only saves a few dollars. But I have it, so why not. Since I have another trip planned for out west this year, I may renew. Not sure yet.
 
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As with many things managed by our federal government, the "America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass" is overly complicated. There are at least seven iterations of the program (Annual, Senior Annual, Senior Lifetime, Access, Military, Fourth Grade and Volunteer). The benefits offered by each of these vary; i.e. a fifty percent discount on camping fees is not applicable to holders of the Annual Pass. However, the Annual Pass allows TWO individuals to sign and receive the allowed benefits while ONLY the actual passholder of the Senior Pass qualifies (My wife once went into town for groceries and was given a hard time when she tried to re-enter the Park because the pass was in my name). To further complicate matters, concessionaire operated facilities may have different rules for fees than the agency to which the property belong and, because of all the variances, it sometimes comes down to an individual's interpretation of the rules.

This website contains the details associated with each of the pass types along with other useful info on our Federal public lands,
 
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I bought one a couple years ago, and it was worth every penny. I visited 8 national parks that year, and saved a couple hundred bucks in entrance fees. Entry to parks was easy. I just showed the card and my I.D., and I was in. I will be buying again, and would recommend one if you plan on visiting multiple parks in a year.
 
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We went on a road trip and visited 4 National parks last summer. We had a 4th grader in the car (actually a rising 4th grader) and we got in free to all of them!!
They did not card him, so if your kid looks close to 4th grade you can probably get one. He loved to make the joke that we owed him because he paid for us to get in all of those parks.
 
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I have a lifetime seniors pass so it's a 'no-brainer' to get one! Annual, I guess it depends on where.. Kinda like buying a State Pass if traveling into another state.
 
H&B Adventures said:
Good Morning,

Does anyone use the U.S. Park Pass or Recreation.gov for any overland camping or trip planning?

-Brandon Carpenter, H&B Adventures #29840
Click to expand...
I have had a life time golden age pass for some time. I get discounts on recreation.gov and it has been very economical and useful.
 
I think it depends on where you are. The vast majority of National Parks and National Forests are Mountain Time zone and west. In that case, the America The Beautiful pass makes tons of sense.
If you live on the east coast, it might not be worth it based on your availability to use it.

Being on the west coast, I buy one every year and get a ton of value from it.
 
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a12houk said:
I think it depends on where you are. The vast majority of National Parks and National Forests are Mountain Time zone and west. In that case, the America The Beautiful pass makes tons of sense.
If you live on the east coast, it might not be worth it based on your availability to use it.

Being on the west coast, I buy one every year and get a ton of value from it.
Click to expand...

If you visit 3 national parks or more per year, it pays for itself (the $80 one, yes). Even more so if you camp at the park-run camp grounds, where the card can get you 40% off. So, Cedar Pass in Badlands, but not at KOA, see?

You still get decent bang for your buck out here in the east. Acadia, New River Gorge, Shenandoah, Cape Cod National Seashore. Those are just off the top of my head but a bunch of other locations and historic sites, too.
 
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Ours recently expired and we haven't visited a park since, last time we bought one at the first park that had paid entry. We have used them to also get free day use access to several National Forest Recreation Sites in the past, they usually let us get water and dump our porta potti which was nice. There has been a slow transition to contractors taking over locations, those usually still have an entry fee but it is lower for pass holders. While we typically get way more than our moneys worth out of the pass, being more stationary now we might not even break even. We'll still buy one though because our parks can obviously use more money.
 
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John and Mandi said:
Ours recently expired and we haven't visited a park since, last time we bought one at the first park that had paid entry. We have used them to also get free day use access to several National Forest Recreation Sites in the past, they usually let us get water and dump our porta potti which was nice. There has been a slow transition to contractors taking over locations, those usually still have an entry fee but it is lower for pass holders. While we typically get way more than our moneys worth out of the pass, being more stationary now we might not even break even. We'll still buy one though because our parks can obviously use more money.
Click to expand...

I agree whole heartedly. I’ve been a pass holder for about ten years. I feel good about the purchase even when I don’t cross the break even mark.
 
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