![]() Brian trudges through Bryce Canyon, which gets much less visitation than Zion.Īlso, if you happen to be a fourth grader, you can get into ANY park free as part of the ‘ Every Kid in a Park‘ program. For example, you don’t have to pay to get into Great Basin NP, but you do have to pay to tour Lehman Caves, one of its signature attractions. ![]() Many National Parks also have a fee for certain ‘attractions’ within the park. Brian (now Sylvia’s) Shenandoah Hoodie was an impulse purchase…the impulse being, he was freezing his ass off and that was the only thing in the gift shop that fit. Hoodies are not either as Brian can attest. Cheeseburgers aren’t handed out for free. Note that if you want to camp, stay in a lodge, buy firewood, a cheeseburger or an overpriced hoodie at ANY national park…you are going to pay something. That single BUILDING routinely got MORE visitors per year than the entire Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which is 800 square miles of territory. Earlier this week I blogged about Notre Dame of Paris Cathedral, recently damaged by fire. However, everything needs to be put in perspective. We have opined many times about the crowds in GSMNP, and the fact that the crowds are one of the things that have caused us to conclude that the overall experience of this popular park is somewhat overrated, at least for hiking. Cammerer, but what it has mostly is crowds. GSMNP has many great views like this one from Mt. Eleven Million people visit annually…double the number of the next park on the list, which is the Grand Canyon. This is in fact part of the reason for its staggering popularity. Great Smoky Mountains NP is popular and charges NO admissions fee at all. There is one notable exception to this, of course. They are less visited because they are very remote, and fairly undeveloped by NPS standards. For example…North Cascades and Great Basin National Parks. There are some VERY good national parks that don’t charge a fee. Does the Grand Canyon charge a fee? You bet your butte it does. Rainier - yeah, you’re gonna pay to get into any of them. The ones you probably ARE thinking of - Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemeti, Rocky Mountain, Zion, Denali, Glacier, Mt. These are very important in their own right of course, but not the sorts of things most people think of when the hear the words, “National Park.” Most are historic sites, monuments, ‘heritage sites’ and other quasi-park units. In fact, most of them aren’t national parks at all. In this case, it refers to the fact that what the phrase really should say is, “Less than one third of the national park units charge admission, but most of those that don’t are the ones you probably don’t care about!” □ What many people don’t know, and the USNPS website helpfully points out, is that fewer than one third of the national park units charge any admission at all!* Whoopee! The weird landscapes of Hawaii’s Haleakala Volcano made it among the most memorable National Parks we have visited.īut see that asterisk? There’s always a catch. While some ghastly numbers were bandied about as trial balloons early in the process, the actual fee increases ended amounting to, in most cases, only a few dollars. Many people have likely heard about the entrance fee increases in National Parks. US National Parks offered free admission on Saturday, April 20. It’s National Parks Week! Sylvia was impressed by Zion Canyon, one of the most visited of the National Parks. US National Parks Waive Their Entrance Fee for a Day
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