Parks’ price hike: Gouging or a deal?
A move at national and state parks across America to reload their budgets with low-priced deals for annual passes could teach California State Parks a lesson at what works.
The National Park Service is shifting to a template that has become effective for Washington, Texas and Michigan state parks.
The proposal that has made the news is that the entrance fee, good for a week, would be raised from $30 to $70 at Yosemite National Park. In all, entrance fees would be raised at 17 of the most popular national parks in America. The Interior Department said the new money would fund deferred infrastructure repairs.
Amid the proposed price hike for Yosemite, many have missed that the annual pass, good for unlimited visits at all national parks, would stay at $80. That’s the deal they want you to take.
This is part of a bigger theme. In Washington, State Parks eliminated day-use fees and replaced them with a $30 annual pass. That’s how they reloaded their parks budgets with user fees. In Texas, the annual pass is $70.
In Michigan, when you register your vehicle, you can check a box that adds $11 to your annual registration fee; you then get a license plate with a little “P” on it that gives you access to 101 state parks.
The opposite approach takes place in California. In the past 15 years, day-use prices have been raised from $2 to $10, for the most part, and the annual pass is $195.
In many areas, both are perceived as bad deals. Regional parks or national forests are often located near state parks and can provide free or lowcost alternatives. And when it takes 20 visits to make an annual pass a deal, how many working people with limited time do you think buy it for $195?
At Yosemite, the price hike will affect the high number of visitors from around the world who spend a small fortune to get there and don’t care what it costs. It also could inspire those from the Bay Area, Sacramento, and San Joaquin Valley, who might visit multiple times a year, to buy the annual pass.
In the end, that’s the best deal.