Disabled veterans get a lifetime pass to enter the Texas parks ... and pay the full camping fee, but $5 the entrance is waived. You do not have to be a resident of Texas.
Unlike, South Dakota, which has a $6 entrance fee ON TOP of the camping fees. And the annual veterans pass is only available to residents, and only gives the camping at half-price, the $6 fee is charged for EVERY DAY, even if you're camping. In the case of one park (which we declined and went elsewhere) the SD park has a boat area and wanted to charge us a boat-launch fee, even tho we had no boat.
Disabled veterans (actually any disabled citizen) gets lifetime pass to national parks free ... good for entrance to national parks, forests, monuments, etc. And half-off for camping. Accept when we're shutdown, of course.
Unfortunately, many of the national parks now have extended contracts with vendors, and the vendors have taken many of the sites and added electrical pods and increased the price about $20 per day - and we get NO half off that.
The rates state the dry-camp sites are half off, and only a few remain. The rest in a specific park have been upgraded, but the discount does not apply.
So, anyone wanting to use it, half off the $19 camp fee, but add anywhere from $15-$20 for electrical and the fees jump to $28-34 per site, with discount. Doesn't seem right to me ... we developed (tax revenue and camping fees over many years) and now private vendors harvest the fruit.
Specifically, Teton National Park ... one campground has about 80 sites, but only 15 if you want dry-camp and discount. Only two dry-camp sites were open, so we nearly had to pay the upgrade fee, even tho we don't need nor want it.
OF course, say some, make a reservation - OKAY, and pay Reserve America an additional $9 for one night. Again, a little unfair.
Soon enough, ALL sites will be upgrade sites and upgrade fees. A little unfair to those of us who qualify, or pay the park pass every year.
Just as a side note - we built custom homes in California for many years. The temporary electrical pod cost me about $125 installed, and we used about $30 worth of electricity for the entire bill over three or four months (power saws, compressors, etc) ... So, I can imagine what it cost for one night RV (28" max) is probably less than a buck. SO, we pay $20 extra for that power, everything else was already in place.
AND the power of ONE word. In the older entrance passes, the wording states the bearer IS entitled to entrance and half off camping. The new passes state MAY BE entitled. A huge difference in application.
