I wonder how expensive National Park campgrounds really are to maintain. Most of the NP campgrounds were built by the CCC back in the '30s. It's public property, there are no taxes, business licenses or other similar expenses. The public ones depend on volunteers as camp hosts. They collect the money and clean the sites. Fire rings and picnic tables last for decades. Garbage pickup and restroom cleaning takes maybe an hour or two and is performed by employees who make less than $15 dollars an hour.
For example, Norris campground in Yellowstone has 100 campsites and charges $20 a day (about the same price Xanterra charges for their comparable concession-operated campgrounds, with all of Xanterra's additional expenses and its need to see a profit). That means Norris is grossing close to $2000 a day, and as I pointed out has a minimal operating cost. I would say that campground operation is clearly self-supporting and probably subsidizing other operations in the park.
