News Release

Arches and Canyonlands Change Entrance Fee to Address Infrastructure Needs & Improve Visitor Experience

Date: April 12, 2018
Contact: Andy L. Fisher, 435-719-2140

The National Park Service (NPS) announced today that Arches and Canyonlands national parks will modify entrance fees to provide additional funding for infrastructure and maintenance needs that enhance the visitor experience. Effective June 1, 2018, both parks’ entrance fee will be $30 per vehicle or $25 per motorcycle. An annual park pass will cost $55.

The NPS last October proposed a plan to adopt seasonal pricing at both Arches and Canyonlands national parks and 15 other national parks to raise additional revenue for infrastructure and maintenance needs. The fee structure announced today addresses many concerns and ideas provided by the public on how best to address fee revenue for parks.

Revenue from entrance fees remains in the National Park Service and helps ensure a quality experience for all who visit. In both Arches and Canyonlands national parks, 80 percent of entrance fees stay in the park and are devoted to spending that supports the visitor. We share the other 20 percent of entry fee income with other national parks for their projects.

“There is always a delicate balance between resources required to improve visitor services and the effort to ensure that parks are accessible for all," according to Kate Cannon, superintendent of the Southeast Utah Group, encompassing Arches, Canyonlands, Hovenweep and Natural Bridges national park sites. “We think this increase across many parks nationally is easier for our community than a larger increase locally would have been.”

The additional revenue from entrance fees at Arches and Canyonlands national parks will repair trails and roads, update exhibits in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands, provide staff to assist with traffic congestion, improve visitor contact station in The Maze district of Canyonlands, and provide visitor services otherwise not available including evening programs in campgrounds and the Fiery Furnace guided experience in Arches.

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 aging infrastructure and increased visitation affects park roads, bridges, buildings, campgrounds, water systems, bathrooms, and other facilities. Maintenance deferred on these facilities amounts to $11.6 billion nationwide backlog.

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.

Arches and Canyonlands have the same fee structure which has been in effect since 2015. In total, there are 117 park sites in the National Park System that charge an entrance fee. The remaining 300 sites are 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 complete fee schedule will change according to the following:

Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
	Per Vehicle	Per Motorcycle	Per Person	SEUG Annual Pass
Current	25	15	10	50
beginning June 1, 2018	30	25	15	55

For more information about the Southeast Utah Group of national parks visit our websites at:

nps.gov/arch
nps.gov/cany
nps.gov/hove
nps.gov/nabr