would you pay $41 to enter a National Park?

Howdy!

We're in Colorado and visited Pikes Peck the other day. As you pull up to the gate entrance there is a large US Forest Service sign so I handed my National parks senior pass to the ranger. I was advised the pass was not excepted there. When I pointed out the sign to the ranger and stated it should be covered under the US Forest Service with my pass, I was advised the $24.00 ($12.00 per person) was a toll to us the roadway. I would think if it was a toll to use the roadway it should have been by the vehicle not by how many persons were inside the vehicle. Been to a lot of park across the country and first time we've been charged a toll fee to drive on the roadway.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

Feel robbed every time I hear of a new fee. Just plain greed. New fees are not needed in any park. Enough is made with parking fee and gate fees. You also pay taxes each year to assist the NPS.I bet there is taxes for State and County in there also.So pass fees and taxes should do a lot.

tsetsaf wrote:
I am calling BS on this story. Read it and the implication is that folks would be okay with an 80% increase in entrance fees if it ensured they would see a bear Article

It is BS. The researchers used an outmoded and unreliable survey method: "How much would you be willing to pay?" question.

That method yields unrealistically high values and is no longer considered statistically valid. I am surprised a peer reviewed journal accepted it for publication.

Just paid $80 for an annual pass. Big whoop.
People might appreciate the parks more if they understand the costs.

Just take a drive thru Bearazona in Williams, AZ. You'll see bears along the road every time. It's less than $41.

When we went to Mt. Rushmore in 2004, we could get in with our Golden Age Passport. This year to get around letting people in with that, they don't charge to get in, but charge $11 to park. New way to stop seniors from being able to use them.

I see Parks Canada receives 600 million dollars per year in government funding so the fees must fall well short of the costs in Canada. I think our fees here are higher than in the US. I get an annual pass every year although we usually only get to Jasper once. I see it as a good cause and pay with pleasure. When I found there was no water tap available to fill RV tanks in winter, I offered to pay for one to be installed but the park declined my offer. I see a lot of work going on there this summer so maybe this service will be added. Costs must be great for setting up and maintaining campsite services, policing, animal protection, road works and so on. We need these parks well taken care of.

If you want to see bears, go to any dump in Canada.

The cheating continues because we allow it. Vote out the crooks.

That article is "HOGWASH", and only because I can't use the word it really is.

But, the real danger for the parks is Washington itself, closing the parks last year during the "budget crisis" ... we were kicked out of the parks when they closed, and it was a true tragedy for the folks that came on a vacation planned for months, sometimes years.

Private contractors run some parks, and in our experience with over fifty years of camping, the ones they do are run poorly, and less maintained. In addition, they stick a power pier up on a campground WE built with our tax money, and disallow the 'discount' for the electric sites now. And it's only going to get worse, not better.

Pretty much an annual discussion now is attempting to 'remove' the park passes and ATB passes discount ... when that happens, the burden of fees increase falls directly on ONE group. IF the parks raises fees, let it be for everyone a small amount instead of one group taking a 50% hit all at once. If all entry fees were raised $2-$3 that would do it, instead one group pays, and that reduction in discount goes directly into profit coffers for the vendors.