DINOSAUR | The National Park Service (NPS) announced that Dinosaur National Monument will modify its entrance fees to provide additional funding for infrastructure and maintenance needs to enhance the visitor experience. Effective June 1, 2018 the entrance fees to the park will be $25 per vehicle or $20 per motorcycle. An annual park pass will cost $45. All of the money received from entrance fees remains with the National Park Service with at least 80 percent of the revenue going to Dinosaur National Monument.
Revenue from entrance fees remains in the National Park Service and helps ensure a quality experience for all who visit. At Dinosaur National Monument, fee revenue is devoted to spending that supports the visitor, including the public shuttle system.
In response to public comments on a fee proposal released in October 2017, there will be a modest increase for all entrance fee-charging parks, rather than the higher peak-season fees initially proposed only for 17 highly-visited national parks.
“We take our commitment to providing affordable access to the Monument very seriously,” said Mark Foust, superintendent of Dinosaur National Monument. “We work hard to provide our visitors with the best possible experience. One way of achieving that goal is to collect and invest funds from entrance and camping fees into providing visitor services and maintaining facilities. The shuttle that runs between the Quarry Visitor Center and the Exhibit Hall is one of the primary projects currently paid for by fee revenue. The shuttle reduces congestion at the small exhibit hall parking lot and improves the visitor experience.”
National parks have experienced record breaking visitation, with more than 1.5 billion visitors in the last five years. 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 a $11.6 billion deferred maintenance backlog nationwide.
The additional revenue from entrance fees at Dinosaur National Monument will replace restroom facilities in the Green River and Split Mountain Campgrounds, repair trails, and replace outdated and damaged signs, exhibits and other interpretive media throughout the monument.
Entrance fees collected by the National Park Service totaled $199.9 million in Fiscal Year 2016. The NPS estimates that once fully implemented, the new fee structure will increase annual entrance fee revenue by about $60 million.
Dinosaur National Monument has collected entrance fees for over 30 years. The current rate of $20 per vehicle or $15 per motorcycle has been in effect since 2016. The park is one of 117 National Park Service site that charges an entrance fee, the other 300 national parks will remain free to enter. The price of the annual America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass and Lifetime Senior Pass will remain $80.
The National Park Service has a standardized entrance fee structure, composed of four groups based on park size and type. Dinosaur National Monument is one of the 42 sites in group 2. Some parks not yet aligned with the other parks in their category will raise their fees incrementally and fully incorporate the new entrance fee schedule by Jan. 1, 2020. The complete fee schedule for Dinosaur will change according to the following:
For general information on Dinosaur National Monument, please visit our website at www.nps.gov/dino or call us at (435) 781-7700. You can also look for DinosaurNPS on social media.
