Saving Money with Park Passes in the USA

An Inter-Agency pass covers entrance fees for one or two co-owners at national parks and national wildlife refuges as well as standard amenity fees at national forests and grasslands, and at lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation. That includes Interpretive Sites and picnic sites within national forests - even if you are just passing through, you are expected to have paid for some kind of pass to park at these sites, even for just a moment. The Inter-Agency pass does NOT cover camping or special use fees. The pass can be co-owned by two people (married couple, unmarried couple, whatever). In 2011, the pass cost $80.

Every official national site charges differently: some charge by the car (up to four people), some charge by the individual, some give deep discounts for those traveling by motorcycle, bicycle or walking in, and some charge by the day. To determine if the Inter-Agency Pass is going to save you money, you have to find out the admission fees for the official national sites you might visit in a 12 month period (though, if you buy your pass early in a month, it's good through that month the following year, and that could actually be a 13-month period).

For instance, here's what my husband and I would have paid from September 2010 to September 2011 had we not bought an Inter-Agency Pass.

My guidance:

• if you know you are going to visit at least two major USA national parks by car in a 12-month period - parks that charge $25 or more to enter by car - buy the Inter-Agency pass, because you will probably visit national monuments, national historic sites, national forests and other national sites near these parks, even if you aren't thinking of doing so before your trip.

• if you are going to visit national parks by motorcycle, bicycle or hiking in with the same person all of the time, and you know that you two are going to visit at least two major USA national parks in a 12-month period - parks that charge $12 or more for each person to enter by motorcycle, bicycle or walking in - buy the Inter-Agency pass, because you will probably visit national monuments, national historic sites, national forests and other national sites around these parks, even if you aren't thinking of doing so before your trip. Even if you are just passing through a national forest, where there is no gate to get in or out, you are expected to have paid for some kind of pass, and to display it or have it ready to show, at interpretive sites, picnic sites or trail heads within such national forests.

• if you are going to visit national parks by motorcycle, bicycle or hiking in, as a single person or always with different people, in a 12-month period, you are going to have to visit at least a dozen sites to make the pass worthwhile. Look over admission fees of places you plan on visiting to figure out if it's worth it.

Note: the Inter-Agency pass is NOT good at USA state parks (parks managed by individual states, like Kentucky or South Dakota.

State Parks

If you plan on visiting a few state parks in one USA state in a 12-month period, or one state park several times in a 12-month period, and you will be traveling by car or bicycle, you might want to purchase a year-long state park pass - if the state offers such (not all do). For instance, a Washington State Discover pass is $30, as of 2011. It covers all Washington state parks and state recreation areas. The pass is for one vehicle, not per person - and I'm not sure what that means for motorcyclists. Oregon offers something similar. Such state park passes are usually transferable among vehicles, HOWEVER, state park passes are not worth it if your traveling party is on motorcycles rather than a car, since most state parks, including Washington's and Oregon's, charge by vehicle rather than person - that means a van full of 10 people gets charged less than two people on two motorcycles. If you are camping at a state park, you don't need a day-use parking pass - display your current state park camping receipt on your dashboard - but check first with the camp host if your traveling party is on more than one motorcycle, to make sure the state park isn't going to try to charge you an extra fee.

And if you are a motorcycle rider, I encourage you to contact your own state park agency headquarters and see if they charge by vehicle, rather than by person - and if they do, COMPLAIN. The National Park Service does not discriminate against motorcycle riders regarding admission fees and annual passes - why do state parks do so?!

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