Fees & Passes

Overview of entrance requirements

All visitors MUST have

• Entrance Pass

  Required for all visitors*

* May not apply in some cases. See details below.

Entrance Passes

Interagency Passes

FREE–$80.00

The America the Beautiful – The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Series is your ticket to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites across the United States. entrance fees at lands managed by the National Park Service and US Fish & Wildlife Service and also standard amenity fees (day use fees) at lands managed by the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and US Army Corps of Engineers.

More about interagency passes

Standard Entrance Pass

$30.00

Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River is administered by Big Bend National Park. All park visitors are required to purchase a recreational use pass upon entering Big Bend National Park. No cash is accepted; credit/debit card only. No refunds are given due to inclement weather. For more information on entrance fees and passes for Big Bend National Park, please visit: https://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/fees.htm Big Bend participates in the congressionally authorized Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. Under this program, parks keep 80% of all fees collected; the remaining 20% will be deposited in a special account to be used in parks where fees are not collected. Funds generated by these fees are used to accomplish projects that parks have been unable to fund through yearly congressional allocations.

Private Vehicle

$30.00

Entrance Fee to Big Bend National Park. This fee includes all occupants of a private, non-commercial vehicle and is valid for 7 days

In-person Purchase Locations

• Maverick Entrance Station

  Credit/Debit Only

• Persimmon Gap Entrance Station

  Credit/Debit Only

• Panther Junction Visitor Center

  Credit/Debit Only

• Chisos Basin Visitor Center

  Credit/Debit Only

More information

Show less about Standard Entrance Pass

2023 Fee-free Days

No entrance pass required on these days:

• Monday, January 16 — Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Saturday, April 22 — First Day of National Park Week
• Friday, August 4 — The Great American Outdoors Act
• Saturday, September 23 — National Public Lands Day
• Saturday, November 11 — Veterans Day

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Lower Canyons Campsite

NPS Photo / T. VandenBerg

 

The Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River does not have an entry fee, however, if you float the portions of the Wild & Scenic River inside Big Bend National Park, you will be charged for entry into the National Park. A backcountry use permit is required for all river use. Day-use river permits are free, while overnight or multi-day river trips have a permit fee of $10 per night.

For additional information about entrance fees or park passes, please visit Big Bend National Park's Fees & Passes.