DINO I After completing a thorough public involvement process, Dinosaur National Monument will increase its entrance and camping fees on Jan. 1 in order to help fund important maintenance and improvement projects within the monument.
The monument’s entrance and camping fees were last increased in 1997. This increase is consistent with the tiered fee system in use by National Park Service sites throughout the country, including many in Utah and Colorado.
“This increase in fees will allow us to make direct improvements to visitor facilities and continue to protect, preserve and share the special places here at Dinosaur with current visitors and future generations,” said Dinosaur Superintendent Mark Foust. “After soliciting input from the public and carefully considering the impact of a fee increase on visitors and community members, we came to the conclusion that this is the right course of action to improve facilities and services that are important to visitors.
“We want to encourage those who visit the monument frequently to purchase an annual pass; for $40 you will be able to enjoy the monument all year long,” Foust said. “It is the best option for returning visitors. If you travel frequently to other national parks, the Interagency Annual Pass is a great bargain for $80. The National Park Service will also continue to host several fee-free days throughout the year when entrance fees are waived.”
Entrance fees have supported a wide range of projects that improved the monument and visitor experience, including funding the shuttle system between the visitor center and exhibit hall, rehabilitating trails and trailhead signs, developing and installing exhibits in visitor centers, improving park water systems, providing ranger-led programs and improving accessibility.
Additional revenue from this fee increase will enable the monument to continue to improve and maintain aging restroom facilities and campgrounds, update 50-year-old exhibits, maintain historic structures like Josie’s Cabin and improve road and trail signs.
In the fall of 2014, the National Park Service conducted a nationwide review of entrance fees.
To solicit public input, Dinosaur National Monument launched a civic engagement campaign in November 2014. During the public comment period, the park received eight formal comments. We also posted information about the proposed fee change on the monument’s social media sites and monitored the comments we received through these outlets.
The majority of comments supported an increase as long as funds were used to improve facilities and services at the monument.
For more information, call 435- 781-7700, visit www.nps.gov/dino or follow DinosaurNPS on social media.
