Last Week For Seniors To Get Lifetime National Park Entry Pass For $10

Courtesy of Ron Niebrugge

For those seniors who want to save money by using a lifetime pass at National Parks – Monday the price is going to jump substantially. The passes grant lifetime entry for U.S. citizens who are older than 62 to more than 2,000 sites and parks across the country. Due to legislation passed in December of 2016, these lifetime passes will jump to $80 on August 28.

The price hike was passed by Congress near the end of former President Barack Obama’s time in the White House. The National Park Service Centennial Act is focused on solving infrastructure issues in national parks. It is the first price increase for the pass since 1994.

 According to the National Park Service, more than 250,000 requests have been submitted online and by mail this year to retrieve these lifetime passes — more than seven times more than the 2016 record of 33,000 in 2016.  The Park Service typically sells about 800,000 senior passes each year, but anticipates it will sell 2.5 million this year.

Using the park pass, seniors can have access thousands of sites managed by six different federal agencies: the Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The new price is still a bargain for seniors, after three $30 park visits to places like Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, they are already saving money.

With just a few days left until the price jumps dramatically, here’s how you can still get a senior pass for less than $80.

Visit a federal recreation area where the passes are accepted: Here, you can purchase a pass for $10 before August 28. You can find a full list of locations of where the passes are issued here.

Fill out a mail-in application: Seniors can send in an application for a pass by mail, with $10 for the park pass and another $10 for a processing fee. All mail-in applications must be postmarked before August 28.

Send in an application online: Like the mail-in applications, this online application also costs $20 in total due to a processing fee. It also must be completed before August 28.