News Release

Badlands National Park to move to cashless fee collection starting March 1, 2023

News Release Date: February 16, 2023

Contact: Kris Salapek, 605-433-5230

Interior, SD - Beginning March 1st 2023 Badlands National park will transition to a fully cashless fee system and only accept mobile or electronic payments for entrance and permit fees. Visitors can also purchase Badlands National Park entrance passes in advance by going to Recreation.gov or through the Recreation.gov application. Visitors purchasing from Recreation.gov will have a digital pass they can store on a mobile device or print out, saving time when they arrive at the park. America the Beautiful annual and lifetime passes do still cover the cost of entry into the park, and must be shown in conjunction with proper ID.

Entrance fees are an important source of revenue used to improve the visitor experience in national parks, including road and facility repairs and maintenance, trail improvements, installation of accessible exhibits, visitor and resource protection services, and more. Moving to a cashless system allows parks to be better stewards of visitor dollars by reducing the amount of time park staff spend managing cash, increasing the amount of fee revenue available to support critical projects and visitor services, and improving accountability and reducing risk.

More information about visiting the park can be found at our park website: Badlands National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)