America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass

Visiting National Park Service areas and other federal lands is one of your best recreation values. Keep reading to find out how you can enjoy America's treasures for even less money---you may even qualify for a free pass!

The "America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass" combines the benefits of previous recreation passes from five federal agencies into one comprehensive pass. The pass covers recreation opportunities on public lands managed by four Department of the Interior agencies - the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management; and the Bureau of Reclamation - and by the Department of Agriculture's U.S. Forest Service.

Access to most public lands remains free. The pass applies to locations that have entrance or standard amenity fees. The pass is available at federal recreation sites that charge entrance and standard amenity fees, through government internet sites, and through select third-party vendors.

This program replaces the Golden Eagle, Golden Age, and the Golden Access Passports as well as the old National Parks Pass. Existing passes will remain valid until expired, lost, or stolen.

The five different passes in the new interagency program are:

1. The annual interagency pass costing $80--for visitors to multiple federal sites, the pass offers unlimited coverage of entrance and standard amenity recreation fees for a specific period of time, typically a year, beginning from the date of first use.
2. A $10 lifetime Senior Pass for US citizens 62 or over.
3. A free lifetime Access Pass for US citizens with permanent disabilities.
4. A free annual Volunteer Pass for volunteers acquiring 250 hours of service on a cumulative basis.
5. A free annual pass for active military and their dependents.

For more information on all these passes, visit the US Geological Survey website at http://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html or call 1-888-275-8747 Option 1. Please note that the Senior Pass and Access Pass are now available by mail for an additional $10 fee. Information on mail orders is at the link above.