National Park Passes and Fees: Planning Your Park Visit

Choosing a national park outing means matching the trail to your abilities and the visit to the park's entrance and access arrangements. For 2026, the National Park Service listed different annual-pass prices for U.S. residents and nonresidents, along with additional fees at selected parks. Use the figures below as a planning reference, then check current-year NPS information before committing to your itinerary.

How Busy the Parks Are

NPS recorded 323,014,305 recreation visits and 13,016,577 overnight stays in 2025, with 26 parks setting visitation records. Its 2025 visitation report placed Great Smoky Mountains first among national parks, with 11,527,939 visits. The remaining top ten were Zion, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, Acadia, Grand Teton, Olympic, and Glacier.

These are annual park totals, rather than forecasts for a particular trailhead. Use them as context for a flexible plan. Identify an alternative outing before departure and allow time to work through access arrangements. For trail ideas, compare routes in our day-hike guide with each park's current requirements.

America the Beautiful Pass Options

NPS's entrance-pass list gave the following options for 2026. Begin with eligibility, then compare the choices available to your traveling party:

• Resident Annual Pass: $80 for U.S. citizens and residents.
• Non-Resident Annual Pass: $250 for non-U.S. residents.
• Senior passes: $20 for the Senior Annual Pass or $80 for the Senior Lifetime Pass, available to U.S. citizens and residents aged 62 or older.
• 4th Grade Pass: Free for U.S. fourth graders.
• Military passes: The free Military Annual Pass was listed for current U.S. military members and dependents; the free Military Lifetime Pass was listed for Gold Star Family members and veterans.
• Access Pass: Free for U.S. citizens and residents with a permanent disability.
• Volunteer Pass: Free for federal recreation site volunteers with 250 service hours.

NPS stated that all America the Beautiful passes other than the Non-Resident Annual Pass were for U.S. citizens and residents. For a Resident Annual Pass purchase, it required proof of U.S. citizenship or residency. Its accepted documents included a U.S. passport, a U.S. government-issued driver's license or state ID, or a Permanent Resident card. Check the current requirements when preparing your pass documents.

The 2026 Non-Resident Fee and the 11 Parks

Under NPS's 2026 nonresident fee rules, each non-U.S. resident aged 16 or older visiting one of the specified parks paid a $100 fee in addition to the standard entrance fee. The charge was per person, so count the eligible travelers when estimating costs.

The parks were Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion. Compare the named parks with your route before deciding between individual charges and an annual pass.

NPS described the $250 Non-Resident Annual Pass as covering the entire vehicle, or two motorcycles, or the passholder plus three additional adults where entrance fees were charged per person. Nonresidents admitted with that pass did not pay the additional nonresident fee. Match the stated coverage to how your party will travel, and check current NPS information before purchasing.

Fee-Free Days

NPS listed national park fee-free days in 2026 as applying to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Nonresidents still paid the entrance fee and any applicable nonresident fee unless they had the Non-Resident Annual Pass. A fee-free date therefore did not mean the same entrance budget for every traveler.

When planning a family visit, note who qualifies for a pass or fee-free entry alongside the chosen date. Check the park's current-year information, and leave room in your budget for the rest of the outing. Compare eligibility before treating a particular day as a free visit for the whole group.

Reservations, Shuttles and Timed Parking

Glacier's 2026 Logan Pass arrangements illustrate why entrance eligibility and trailhead access deserve separate checks. The park required no vehicle reservations anywhere in 2026. From July 1 through September 7, however, it limited private-vehicle parking at Logan Pass to three hours and piloted a ticketed Logan Pass shuttle with early morning express routes.

Hikers planning the Highline Trail to Granite Park Chalet or The Loop needed a shuttle ticket. The timed parking and shuttle pilot did not continue past September 7. Treat those arrangements as an example from that season, and check the park's current-year page for your travel dates.

Before settling on a hike, write down the trailhead access plan, any parking time limit, and any shuttle-ticket requirement as separate planning questions. Work through the return journey as carefully as the start. Keep an alternative itinerary available while checking the details.

Leave No Trace in Crowded Parks

Make considerate use part of the itinerary, alongside fees and transport. Review our Leave No Trace guide while planning how to handle waste, share trails, and respect wildlife. Keep your plans flexible enough to follow posted restrictions and give other visitors space.

A useful final review pairs each destination with its current entrance rules and access arrangements. Then consider whether the whole plan leaves enough room for a comfortable outing, including the return trip. A less ambitious itinerary can be a sensible choice when the preferred route does not fit the available arrangements.