Saguaro National Park Announces Fee Changes

Date: June 10, 2015
Contact: Andy L. Fisher, [phone]

SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK ANNOUNCES FEE CHANGES
including changes to backcountry permits, annual passes, and payment options

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Tucson, Az. - Starting on June 15, Saguaro National Park will increase Back-country camping fees from $6 per night to $8 per night, and the Saguaro National Park annual pass from $25 to $35. Regular weekly entrance fees are not being increased. All fees collected at Saguaro National Park stay in the park and are used to fund important maintenance projects and educational programs within the park.

	Current Pricing	New Pricing	Change
Saguaro National Park Annual Pass	$25 for One Year Entrance	$35 for One Year Entrance	+ $10 per year
Back-Country Camping Fee	$6 per night	$8 per night	+ $2 per night
Park Entrance Fee	$10 for 7 days	$10 for 7 days	No Change

In the fall of 2014, the National Park Service conducted a nationwide review of entrance fees and as a result, many national parks across the country increased their regular entrance fees this year.

"After carefully considering our local community, Saguaro National Park decided not to increase our regular entrance fees at this time, so we will retain the 7 day pass at $10," according to Saguaro Superintendent Darla Sidles. "We have been working hard to ensure Tucson's backyard national park is welcoming and available to everyone, including our tremendously supportive local community of Tucson. Raising entrance fees seems counter-productive at this time."

To solicit public input, Saguaro National Park launched a civic engagement campaign in December 2014 and received 27 formal comments. The majority of those comments supported increasing back-country camping permit fees and Saguaro Annual Passes.

"In addition, visitors have expressed concern over the inability to pay fees at trail heads and find it cumbersome to travel all the way to a visitor center before starting a hike from the more remote trailheads," said Sidles. "We are responding to that concern with a new mobile service to enable visitors to pay their fee from the trailheads utilizing their mobile device or from home before leaving for the park".

Visitors will notice that some of the park trailheads will include new signage with a QR code that will link people to www.nps.gov/sagu/payfee.htm and explain how to pay fees using a mobile device as they enter the park.

Alternatively, the park has set up a webpage www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/fees.htm where visitors can pay their fees before leaving home.

"Both of these eFee programs will make it easier for visitors to support the park through their entrance fees," added Superintendent Sidles.

In Saguaro National Park, 100% of user fees support a wide range of projects that improve the park and visitor experiences, including rehabilitating trails and trailhead signs, developing and installing the exhibits in visitor centers, providing ranger-led programs, and improving ADA accessibility. Additional revenue from this fee increase will improve the park's ability to repair park trails and serve our visiting public.

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 407 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/NationalParkService.