Although I want to include the National Park Pass as well as individual state parks pass program in my RV membership series, a pass, strictly speaking is not a membership. Still, annual park passes, both national and state, can be a budget-conscious RVer’s dream which is one benefit to an RV membership in general. So, I’m including it as part of this series.

When you think park passes, two types immediately come to mind. The National Park Pass and individual state’s park passes. This week’s post focuses on the National Park Pass but come back next week for information about state parks.

So, let’s explore national parks.

National Parks

A National Parks Pass is actually much broader than the 63 national parks. You might remember a bit of the history and stats I provided about the national parks system in my post about state parks and why I love them.

The passes include more than 2,000 recreational areas managed by five different federal agencies. This includes the national parks (obviously) as well as national forests, wildlife refuges, national grasslands and areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

There are several passes available under the broader name of the National Park and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Series. So, what all does one of these passes cover?

A pass covers entrance, standard amenity fees and day use fees for a driver and all passengers in a personal vehicle at per vehicle fee areas (or up to four adults at sites that charge per person). Children age 15 or under are admitted free.

National Park Service website

Passes are valid for one year from the date of purchase and expires on the last of day of month of the month in which it was purchased. In other words, if you buy it on the second day of the month, you actually receive a 13-month pass (minus one day).

Once you have your pass in hand, treat it like cash as they are non-refundable and lost passes are not replaced.

Below are the main categories of passes under the National Park and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Series.

Senior Pass

If you are 62 or older, the Senior Park Pass is a smokin’ good deal. You can either buy an annual pass for $20 or a lifetime pass for $80.

As I always say, do the math. This one is easy. If you think you’ll use the lifetime pass in four years or more during the remainder of your life, that’s the one to get. If you are a healthy adventuring senior, the lifetime pass could be such a good deal that it ends up costing you just a few dollars per year for entrance to more than 2,000 beautiful areas.  

Access Pass

An Access Pass is available for those with a permanent disability. The pass is free. To get it, you are required to show proper documentation of the permanent disability.

Military Pass

Those currently serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force and their dependents are eligible for a Military Pass which is a free annual pass. This pass includes Reserve and National Guard members as well.

Volunteer Pass

Since I don’t fully understand what is meant, let me quote from their website on who is eligible for the Volunteer Pass…

Volunteers with 250 service hours with federal agencies that participate in the Interagency Pass Program.

National Park Service website

The pass is an annual one, valid for 12 months. What is unclear to me from this limited information is whether the pass is issued automatically once you have reached 250 hours with the count then starting over for a future pass. Or whether a park’s staff person assesses all volunteer hours on an annual basis and issues the pass automatically. Or whether those who want a pass have to contact someone to receive their pass.

The other thing that isn’t clear is what is meant by “federal agencies that participate in the Interagency Pass Program.” Perhaps it’s broader than the 2,000 areas under the umbrella and includes many more federal programs. Hey, maybe I could volunteer to be on an FBI stakeout and catch bad guys. Or, even better, count money at the Federal Reserve.

I assume that those who regularly volunteer with federal agencies are provided information they need to receive their pass. If you are one of those, please give us the details in the comments.

National Park Service logo - shaped like an arrowhead with a tree, mountain and buffalo on it.
Even though this is the National Park Service logo, it always makes me think only of Yellowstone National Park. Anyone else? Maybe they use it as Yellowstone was the very first National Park in the US.

Annual National Park Pass

If you don’t qualify for any of the specific passes above, you’ll need a general Annual Pass. These cost $80 for a year-long pass.

A great place people (and RVers) to use a National Park Pass.

To give perspective on this cost, I looked up the cost of visiting Yellowstone National Park, the second most visited national park in the US with nearly 4 million annual visitors. It costs $35 to visit for 7 days. There is no one-day pass. You pay the $35 whether or not you explore for one day, seven days or something in between. If you really love Yellowstone, you can also purchase an annual pass for this park alone for $70. But, of course, the obvious thing here is to spend $10 more knowing your access to beautiful places increased from one to over 2,000.

To be fair, the most visited national park, Smokey Mountain National Park, with 12 million annual visitors, charges nothing to visit. However, note that only a few of the national parks don’t charge an entrance fee. Most do.

Do You Have a National Park Pass?

If you have a National Park Pass, do you find it a good value for the money? In other words, do you use it often enough to make it worth it?

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