Significant impact on RVing!!

[Likes_to_tow]

Is this the beginning of a significant impact on our lifestyle?? Now there will be limited access to a growing list of National Parks. Watch this new video on the latest restrictions!!!! Yet another freedom gone perhaps. Right now there is no talk of limiting the pass except the actual number of passes available to give out. Later we could see more restrictions on those who would qualify for a pass.

Anyone interested in buying my 5th wheel??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-ZxXpHEN6A

[2112]

Likes to tow wrote:

Because people over 65 are sometimes financially stressed for funds and a little special offer is appreciated. It gets them off the couch and into nature. They have earned a little respect and this is a great way for their nation to show it.

Nobody owes you, me or anyone else anything except our SS. We all took our turn rolling the dice. Don't get me wrong. I'll take advantage of a senior discount whenever and wherever it's offered, but it's not owed to me or I have somehow earned it. It's a gift.

What freedom are you losing? Regulating access is not a loss of freedom. In this case it has become a necessity.

[naturist]

Got my lifetime senior pass a couple days after my 62nd birthday at Death Valley. $10 pass paid for itself immediately as the (now free) entrance fee was $15. Major deal, you bet!

Last trip to Death Valley was for the super bloom, the year before the pass went up to $80. Somehow dummy here forgot his pass, and had to spring for another. Dear wife also bought one right after becoming eligible, so we have three between us. Still major bargains.

We have used one or another of them a couple times a year. We’ve saved a few hundred bucks in total. A major bargain for us, but not a big contribution to the national debt.

[toedtoes]

Like I said, I wouldn't pass it up (no pun intended).

But it is a major discount and is not just providing a discount to seniors, but actually reducing the fees to below a break even cost for the campgrounds - so those young families every weekend are subsidizing your visits.

Look at the basics:

Entrance fee for 7 days = $30 average
Campsite for 7 nights = $182 (26/night) average.

The Annual Pass costs $80 per year and only offers free entrance. So a young family would need to stay at a park for 21 days to recoup the cost of the pass each and every year. Or visit three parks each year. That is not really a good deal unless you are doing a major trip to multiple parks. And not many younger families can afford such a major trip expense (remember, they still have to pay full camping rates for that trip).

The Senior Pass costs $80 one time and offers free entrance and half off camping. So one 7-day trip to one National Park saves them $121 - which has already more than paid for the pass. Even if you only go once a year, the pass is worth having.

Now if the Senior Pass offered the same "free entrance only" as the Annual Pass but for a one-time fee of $80, I would call it a "little special offer". But as it stands, it is a major special offer.

I hope it's available when I turn 62.

[Terryallan]

toedtoes wrote:

Likes to tow wrote:

Because people over 65 are sometimes financially stressed for funds and a little special offer is appreciated. It gets them off the couch and into nature. They have earned a little respect and this is a great way for their nation to show it.

The pass is not a "little" special offer. For $10, you got a lifetime of free access and 1/2 off camping. That's a MAJOR special offer. Some folks have been enjoying the perks of that pass for 20+ years of yearly visits to multiple parks, plus stays at other federal campgrounds.

Now, I'm not saying I wouldn't take it, but lets face it - that is way beyond the average senior discount offerings out there.

Even now with the higher cost of $80 for the pass, it's still a MAJOR deal. You can recoup that cost in one week's camping trip.

So again, be glad you got that "freebie" - it's one h3ll of a deal.

But do remember. the Seniors have been paying for the National Parks for more than 50 years. They / we deserve a break on price. plus most of us go during the week when younger folks are at work.

Let me tell you a little history. When We started camping on the Blue ridge Parkway. Campsites were $3.00 per night. I think a senior pass was like $1.00. What is it now? like $30.00. So even at half price, it is 15 times more expensive. And you still don't get power, and water, or showers. Primitive camping at it's finest.

[Lwiddis]

Is there any number, likes to tow, where...say Yosemite has too many visitors on a particular day so that you would stop new entries until some visitors left?

[Yosemite_Sam1]

Hyterics, ranting, theatrics and drama on "loss of freedom" seem fashionable nowadays.;)

[BB_TX]

Should make visits much more enjoyable for every one.

Except for those who “have lost their freedoms”. :S

[Acampingwewillg]

In regards to the National Park Pass.....how many seniors over 65 know anything about this pass and those who do know about it, do they really use it much? We've had the pass for several years now and if memory serves me correctly, it's been used twice in many many months of rv'ing and thousands of miles of travel! My guest is that the Senior pass is under used compared to how many are actually entitled to it.

[Yosemite_Sam1]

I've seen this overcrowding and even adjusted our annual family camping at Yosemite.

The pollution and destruction inside national parks could have been avoided which was then proposed before to have day visitors park at certain locations and be shuttled by a bus insid and into trailheads of major attractions.

But there was a big howl as Americans, again in the name of freedom, would want to bring their dear cars inside the parks.

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy and our national parks are being loved to death (literally, Old Sherman has to be prevented into dying with too much foot traffic stomping the grounds into a concrete).

[RetiredRealtorR]

Just remember, national parks are but a minuscule part of what can be seen and done in our beautiful country. It's not time to give up, but rather time to broaden horizons.

[topjimmy]

Either One Thanx for catching that

toedtoes wrote:

topjimmy wrote:
I don't even bother with state parks much I have had a RV membership for 20 years and never had a problem getting a spot I learned Early in my RV life that State Parks are not for me Too Noisy and overcrowded and making a Reservation a year in advance NO THANX

State parks? Or do you mean National parks?

[toedtoes]

topjimmy wrote:
I don't even bother with state parks much I have had a RV membership for 20 years and never had a problem getting a spot I learned Early in my RV life that State Parks are not for me Too Noisy and overcrowded and making a Reservation a year in advance NO THANX

State parks? Or do you mean National parks?

[toedtoes]

Likes to tow wrote:

Because people over 65 are sometimes financially stressed for funds and a little special offer is appreciated. It gets them off the couch and into nature. They have earned a little respect and this is a great way for their nation to show it.

The pass is not a "little" special offer. For $10, you got a lifetime of free access and 1/2 off camping. That's a MAJOR special offer. Some folks have been enjoying the perks of that pass for 20+ years of yearly visits to multiple parks, plus stays at other federal campgrounds.

Now, I'm not saying I wouldn't take it, but lets face it - that is way beyond the average senior discount offerings out there.

Even now with the higher cost of $80 for the pass, it's still a MAJOR deal. You can recoup that cost in one week's camping trip.

So again, be glad you got that "freebie" - it's one h3ll of a deal.

[topjimmy]

I don't even bother with state parks much I have had a RV membership for 20 years and never had a problem getting a spot except on Holidays we have to call 2 months in advance for a spot I learned Early in my RV life that State Parks are not for me Too Noisy and overcrowded and making a Reservation a year in advance NO THANX

[Likes_to_tow]

toedtoes wrote:
It all sounds reasonable to me. If you're camping in the park, the access fee to drive the road is already included, so no need to do anything extra.

Specific locales are charging a nominal fee to access a particular site (Carlsbad Cavern) or to ride the provided transport (Zion).

The reservation/timed tickets for road access are only applicable during the peak season and offer the option to purchase them 60-90 days in advance or 2 days in advance. This way you can plan way in advance or when you get to the area.

As for the passes, no offense, but that isn't a "freedom" that was a "freebie". Be glad you got that deal for as long as you have. Personally, I never did understand the reasoning for letting people 65 and older pay $10 and get free access and 1/2 off camping for the rest of their lives.

Because people over 65 are sometimes financially stressed for funds and a little special offer is appreciated. It gets them off the couch and into nature. They have earned a little respect and this is a great way for their nation to show it.