Recreating in the outdoors often requires a day-use or entrance fee for the place that you are visiting. These fees help pay for park infrastructure and other management projects that are needed to maintain recreational lands. This TUBC guide breaks down the ways to satisfy entrance or day-use fees in different places so that you do not have to worry about being fined while enjoying the outdoors.

 

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BACKGROUND

Day-use and entrance fees depend on the specific park/forest and land management agency that oversees the places you visit. In the US, most of the hiking and backpacking places you’d probably visit are on state or federal land. State land for outdoor recreation is usually managed by a state-specific parks or wildlife agency. Federal land for outdoor recreation tends to be managed by four agencies: the National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), United States Forest Service (USFS), and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Each of these agencies have different policies for day-use and entrance fees, which we will explain in more detail below.

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STATE LAND

State parks in California are managed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR). Each park has its own specific day-use fee that can be found in a comprehensive list here. This fee can be paid upfront at the daily rate, which allows you access to recreation in a specific park for that day only. Paying the daily rate is the most worth it if you only visit a California state park once in a while. But if you visit CA state parks often, it may be worth it to buy a CA state park pass. You can purchase a CA state park pass online and have it mailed to you, or you can purchase it in person at park units that sell them. A full list of passes is available here, but below is a description of the main available annual passes, which are valid for 12 months from the month of purchase:

• California Explorer ($195): Parking pass that is accepted in almost all CA State Park units where a day-use parking fee is charged. It is not accepted in a total of 24 units.

• Golden Poppy ($125): Parking pass that is accepted in the main CA State Park units where a day-use parking fee is charged. It is not accepted in a total of 45 units. Many of these 45 units where the pass is not accepted are popular urban beaches like Torrey Pines SB and Huntington SB. If you don’t visit urban state beaches very often, this pass may be more worth it, especially since it is still honored at many notable parks like Anza-Borrego Desert SP, Big Basin Redwoods SP, and Red Rock Canyon SP.

• Tahoe Regional ($75): Parking pass that is only accepted in five Lake Tahoe area State Park units where a day-use parking fee is charged. This pass would probably be worth it only if the vast majority of state parks that you visit are in the Lake Tahoe area.

• Off-Highway Vehicle ($50): OHV-recreation pass that is only accepted in seven State Park units that allow off-road vehicle driving.

• Historian Passport ($50): Person pass that is accepted for a group of up to 4 people in 33 State Historic Parks where a per-person day-use fee is charged.

Other passes are also available if you satisfy specific criteria explained on the CDPR website. These passes include the lifetime Disabled Discount Pass ($3.50), lifetime Distinguished Veteran Pass (free), Golden Bear Pass ($5), and Limited Use Golden Bear Pass ($20).

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FEDERAL LAND

All federal land in the United States is managed by agencies of the federal government. While each agency has their own unit-specific fees and passes, there is one pass worth mentioning here: the America the Beautiful Pass. This annual pass is accepted at a majority of federal land areas where day-use or entrance fees are charged, equating to over 2,000 sites. This includes national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, Bureau of Land Management land, and other federal land managed by the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The main version of the America the Beautiful Pass, the Interagency Annual Pass, costs $80 and is valid for 12 months from the month of purchase. It is most worth it if you visit a variety of different federal land areas. You can purchase the pass online and have it mailed to you, or you can purchase it directly at an entrance station. To make the best use of this pass in terms of timing, you could purchase this pass on the first day of the month, and then it would be valid until the end of the month the following year (basically valid for 13 months). For example, if you buy the pass on January 1, 2021, it would be valid until January 31, 2022.

 

Other versions of the America the Beautiful Pass are also available if you satisfy specific criteria explained on the NPS and USGS websites. These versions include the Military Pass (free), Access Pass (free), and Volunteer Pass (free), 4th Grade Pass (free), and Senior Pass ($80 for lifetime pass; $20 for annual pass). There is also a new program implemented on November 11, 2020, that expands Military Pass eligibility to military veterans and Gold Star families.

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If you tend to visit only specific national parks or areas managed by a specific federal agency, the America the Beautiful Pass may not be worth it assuming you only qualify for the $80-Annual version of the pass, so here is some agency-specific information:

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NATIONAL PARKS

Managed by the National Park Service. Each NPS unit has its own specific entrance fees and passes listed here. Some parks, such as Mojave NP, do not charge an entrance fee. If you often visit a specific park that charges an entrance fee, it may be worth purchasing its annual pass. If you pay the standard entrance fee, it is valid for 7 consecutive days from the day of purchase (you will receive a receipt that you can display on your dashboard).

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BLM LAND

Managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The vast majority of BLM land is free to recreate on, but specific sites do charge day-use fees. Please check the webpage for a specific site of interest for more information since day-use fees vary across sites. Annual passes for BLM-managed sites also vary, so please check the specific webpages for those as well. Sometimes these passes are region-based and are accepted for a specific selection of BLM sites, National Forest sites, and state parks. An example of such a pass is the Oregon Pacific Coast Passport.

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NATIONAL FORESTS

Managed by the United States Forest Service. National Forests are grouped into specific regions, which tend to have their own day-use fee policies and passes. Please check their respective webpages for more info. In this section however, we will go into detail on the day-use fee policies of four Pacific Southwest (Region 5) national forests: Angeles, San Bernardino, Cleveland, and Los Padres. These forests use a pass known as the Adventure Pass, which can be purchased in person at a ranger station or via these methods. There are two types of Adventure Passes:

• Day pass that is valid for a day ($5)

• Annual pass that is valid for 12 months from the month of purchase ($30 for one pass; an additional $5 for a second pass)

In the four Region 5 national forests mentioned above, you are required to display a valid Adventure Pass or America the Beautiful Pass on the dashboard of your vehicle whenever parking and then recreating in the following places:

• High Impact Recreational Areas (HIRAs), also known as Standard Amenity Fee Areas (SAFAs): These are areas designated along corridors of high-recreational use. Even if parking along a road or state highway (e.g. Angeles Crest Highway), you are required to display a valid pass if planning to recreate in a HIRA. People parking in HIRAs to access private property are exempt from this policy. Here is a link to maps of HIRAs in the four Region 5 forests mentioned above.

• Certain individual day-use sites: These include sites such as picnic areas that may or may not be within a HIRA but still require a valid pass to be displayed in a parked vehicle. Note that not all day-use sites fall into this category.

There are also some day-use sites in the national forests that charge individual concessionaire fees and do not accept the Adventure or America the Beautiful Passes. At these sites you would need to pay the individual day-use fees. Some concessionaire sites do accept a special pass (e.g. Parks Management Company Annual Day Use Pass in Los Padres NF), but this varies by site so please check the USFS website for specific information.

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NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES

Managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Some wildlife refuges do not charge day-use/entrance fees, while others do. Here’s a complete list of wildlife refuges that do charge such fees (scroll to the bottom of the webpage). Please check a specific refuge’s webpage for more information.

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OTHER ADVICE

• Use this guide only for day-use and entrance fees. Separate fees such as campground fees and private concessionaire fees are not discussed in this guide.

• Most, if not all, of the state and federal passes mentioned above are valid only if physical copies are displayed or presented where needed (e.g. on the car dashboard, at the entrance station, or upon request by a ranger). So make sure that if you buy one or more of these passes, be careful not to lose them because the land management agencies usually do not refund or replace any stolen or lost passes.

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Author: Nathan Deng

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