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Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: December 27th, 2019, 9:15 am
by Limey
I just read that the entrance fee to Crater Lake National Park is being raised next year to $30 a car. It wont affect me as I don't go down there but I know others on this site do. I think I read about it on oregonlive.

Re: Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: December 28th, 2019, 8:48 pm
by Chip Down
Hmm...I thought NP fees were the same at all sites.
I haven't paid in 20 years. I used to sneak in at Rainier, but I understand that's getting harder.

Re: Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: December 28th, 2019, 10:27 pm
by adamschneider
Chip Down wrote:
December 28th, 2019, 8:48 pm
Hmm...I thought NP fees were the same at all sites.
God no — although the differences used to be greater. A few years ago, Pinnacles was $5 while Yosemite was $20.

Most are in the $20-$35 range now, but a few are still free (e.g., Great Basin & North Cascades).

Re: Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: December 29th, 2019, 10:55 am
by justpeachy
This is happening at many national parks. Here is the full scoop, from the 2018 announcement: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/04-12-201 ... e-fees.htm
As part of its ongoing efforts to address aging park infrastructure and improve the visitor experience, the National Park Service (NPS) announced today changes to the entrance fees charged at national parks. The changes, which come in response to public comments on a fee proposal released in October 2017, will modestly increase entrance fees to raise additional revenue to address the $11.6 billion in deferred maintenance across the system of 417 parks, historic and cultural sites, and monuments.

Re: Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: February 13th, 2020, 6:29 am
by markesc
If it helps anyone, my national park annual pass was $70.

Paid for itself as Zion and Grand Canyon was $35 each for 7 days, and monuments are a minimum of $10, some monuments are now $20 (sunset crater/wupatki).

It just sucks as there are no national parks close to Crater Lake, unless you're already doing a big road trip coming up from Utah or Glacier/Yellowstone...

Re: Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: February 13th, 2020, 7:58 am
by kepPNW
markesc wrote:
February 13th, 2020, 6:29 am
It just sucks as there are no national parks close to Crater Lake, unless you're already doing a big road trip coming up from Utah or Glacier/Yellowstone...
Well, there's Lassen NP, Lava Beds NM, and Newberry NVM, that rounded out a shorter roadtrip for us once.

Re: Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: February 17th, 2020, 8:28 am
by drm
Most parks have annual passes just for that park if you want to go there often and not other parks.

US national parks are big attractions for visitors from far abroad - Europe and China. These fees are not an issue if you've flown across the oceans, so it's not like attendance goes down much, at least for the more popular parks, and this includes Crater Lake, Rainier and Olympics - at least on the north side. These visitors also buy lots of expensive swag at the gift shop. Olympic NP has numerous access points and many of them are still free. Foreign tourists to Olympic all go in from the Port Angeles entrance.

Re: Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: February 18th, 2020, 2:45 pm
by BigBear
In a couple of ways, I'm glad the fees are going up at national parks.

1) It will keep down the crowds.
2) It makes that $80 Golden Age pass seem like a better deal than it had when we purchased it.

Of course, I'd feel differently if I didn't have the life-time pass.

Re: Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: February 18th, 2020, 4:09 pm
by Aimless
I'm less concerned about what foreign tourists are willing to pay than about setting the entrance fees at a rate that allows access to ordinary working americans, and if that level of entrance fee is not sufficient to cover the basic upkeep and protection of the parks, the difference should be covered by the federal budget. There's no particularly good reason in my view why a city park should be part of the basic city budget and open to all users without fees, while a national park should be fenced off and charge visitors a stiff entry fee as if it were a theme park. The annual pass idea is a very good one for those for whom the parks are local. It should be even cheaper.

Re: Crater Lake Entrance Fee

Posted: February 18th, 2020, 4:23 pm
by kepPNW
Aimless wrote:
February 18th, 2020, 4:09 pm
There's no particularly good reason in my view why a city park should be part of the basic city budget and open to all users without fees, while a national park should be fenced off and charge visitors a stiff entry fee as if it were a theme park.
I might suggest it's because local politicians actually do have to answer to voters.