National Park Entrance Fees Won't Double, Thanks To Huge Backlash

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Passionate national park fans, your voices have been heard. Due to intense public backlash, the U.S. Department of Interior scrapped a plan to double entrance fees at 17 of the most popular parks in the country.

The proposed plan wanted to change the cost of entry in certain parks from $30 to $70 for road-trippers, $25 to $50 for motorcyclists, and $15 to $30 for bicyclists. It would affect traveler-favorite parks, such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Yellowstone in Wyoming and Glacier in Montana.

Once the plan was announced, the public had a month to respond — and respond it did. There were more than 100,000 comments posted to the government comment section opposing the price hike.

Many commenters shared hesitations about taking national park vacations if the entry fees alone cost $70. In fact, the National Parks Conservation Association analyzed the submissions to the government comment section and found that 98 percent of comments were against the price increase.

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Surveys completed by other conservation groups showed similar results. The Outdoors Alliance for Kids found that 40 percent of all respondents said the proposed increase would make them “much less likely to visit” one of the affected national parks. And the price increase would hit people making less than $30,000 a year even harder — more than 70 percent of them said they’d be much less likely to visit.

“We’ve taken the public’s suggestions seriously and have amended the plan to reflect those,” a Department of the Interior spokesperson told Travel + Leisure. But the plan is still being developed and the details haven’t been shared with the public yet.

This new plan will address the estimated $12 billion of work needed in the national park infrastructure, from buildings like nature centers to the actual roads leading through the mountains, canyons and forests.

According to The Washington Post, there are some other potential solutions under consideration. There could be a $20 increase for annual and lifetime passes or a 10 percent increase for entrance prices across the board. Tour buses operating in the parks could also face a higher fee or a per-person fee.

However, the national parks and monuments that are free will continue to operate that way — with no entrance fees at all.

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