I’ve always said that an America the Beautiful interagency pass is one of the best purchases an outdoor person can make.
You can use the pass not only at National Park Service sites but also at USFS, BLM, Fish and Wildlife, Army Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of Reclamation sites.
“The gift of time” is the best gear any outdoor person can have, and a pass that makes it easier to access, use, and enjoy our public lands absolutely qualifies. It’s very light and compact, fits in your DCF wallet (or Ziploc for the dirt baggers), and you won’t lose any UL Catheticism points, either!
Mother Angelica from EWTN
Beyond the standard $80 annual pass, a few groups qualify for free passes:
- Military veterans and currently serving military
- People with disabilities
- Fourth graders
If you are 62 or older, you can purchase an $80 lifetime pass.
Many of these passes also include discounted camping at established sites. Sometimes, local museums or other attractions near federal lands will even offer discounts if you show your America the Beautiful pass, which is a nice bonus.
Overall, it’s an excellent way to enjoy our public lands. If you’re on a long-distance hike, you can also cross public lands in the spirit of the law when it comes to entrance fees.
From a site long ago
One suggestion: Purchase your pass in person at a local site rather than online. That way, the fee dollars go directly to that unit and help them out. There’s no need to use rec DOT gov, purchase a digital pass, and send part of that money to Booz Allen. A physical pass also goes on your dashboard more easily at remote trailheads.
One recent caveat: Passes issued to U.S. residents now feature people rather than the more traditional public lands imagery. Some folks thought they could cover the faces with a pika, a majestic alpine lake, or an NPS-appropriate bison.
Alas, apparently this aesthetic choice seems verboten.
In practice, most fee-collection staff probably would not mind a sticker of a pika, a majestic alpine lake, or an NPS-appropriate bison. Their supervisors, however, may feel differently if people up the line feel strongly different as well, and fee collectors already have one of the more stressful jobs in public land management.
If you’d prefer to personalize your pass with said pika, majestic alpine lake, or a NPS-appropriate bison, a straightforward workaround is to slide the pass into a clear credit card sleeve and place stickers on the sleeve rather than the pass itself.
Sleeve options –
https://www.amazon.com/clear-credit-card-sleeve/s?k=clear+credit+card+sleeve
Convenient sticker options –
- https://www.thesageleafstudio.com/products/national-parks-pass-stickers
- https://www.etsy.com/listing/4435818664/america-the-beautiful-pass-cover-sticker
- https://www.etsy.com/listing/4435284222/national-parks-pass-vinyl-decal
You can show what you love about public lands, not potentially deface and make your pass invalid, and not give the already stressed-out fee collectors a case of agida.
If you prefer the faces of presidents over cute pikas, majestic alpine lakes, or NPS-appropriate bisons, no changes needed.
Cheers!