Fees to Increase at All National Parks

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, along with other national parks across America, will modify its entrance fees to provide additional funding for infrastructure and maintenance needs to enhance visitor experience.

Effective Jan. 1, 2020, the entrance fees to the park will be $30 per vehicle, $25 per motorcycle and $15 per pedestrian or bicyclist.

The receipt allows entry for seven days.

The Tri Park Pass, an annual pass that allows visitors unlimited entry to the three fee-charging national parks in Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Volcanoes and Haleakalā National Parks, and Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, will increase from $50 to $55.

Revenue from entrance fees remains in the National Park Service and helps ensure a quality experience for all who visit. At Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, at least 80 percent of entrance fees stay in the park and are devoted to spending that supports the visitor. The remaining 20 percent of entrance fee income is shared with other national parks for their projects.

The changes reflect a modest increase for all fee-charging parks, rather than the higher peak-season fees initially proposed for 17 highly visited national parks on the mainland.

National parks have experienced record-breaking visitation, with more than 1.5 billion visitors in the last five years. Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park had 1.1 million visitors in 2018, who spent $94.1 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 1,040 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $123 million.

Throughout the country, the combination of an aging infrastructure and increased visitation has put a strain on park roads, bridges, campgrounds, waterlines, bathrooms, and other visitor services and led to an $11.9 billion deferred maintenance backlog nationwide.

The additional revenue from entrance fees at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park will include the rehabilitation of the ‘Ōhi‘a Wing into a cultural museum and archives, a new park orientation film, new exhibits that interpret the 2018 eruption, and trail improvements.

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park has had an entrance fee since 1987. The current rate of $25 per vehicle or $20 per motorcycle has been in effect since June 1, 2017. The park is one of the 117 National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee; the other 300-plus national parks will remain free to enter.

The price of the annual America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Lands Annual Pass and Lifetime Senior Pass will remain $80.

Visitors can enjoy five free days at all fee-charging national parks in 2020: Jan. 20 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day); April 18 (first day of National Park Week and Junior Ranger Day); Aug. 25 (National Park Service birthday); and Nov. 11 (Veterans Day).