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Planning a road trip through the US National Parks? You landed in the right spot! I spent most of 2019-2020 on a National Parks road trip and have written about everything from how to plan your trip to how much your road trip should cost, and I’ve also written National Park Guides for 12+ National Parks. Today, I wanted to cover the America the Beautiful Pass. If you have three National Parks on your radar, the pass is a totally worthwhile investment. Here’s everything you should know about the US National Park pass including how much it costs, where to buy it, and a list of parks included.
Everything You Need to Know about Your America the Beautiful Pass
The America the Beautiful Pass is the name for the US National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass that gets you into 2,000 recreation sites across the United States.
How much does the America the Beautiful Pass cost?
As of 2022, an America the Beautiful Pass is only $80 for unlimited use. That covers entrance, standard amenity fees, and day-use fees for your car (with up to four adult passengers) but excludes things such as parking, RV hookups, camping, shuttles, boat launches, and guided tours.
It’s an annual pass that is valid for one year from the date of issue, and since there’s space for two signatures on the back, it’s possible to share this with another pass holder. When you consider that most of the big National Parks charge $35 per vehicle, this is a seriously affordable way to get some more National Park travel into your year.
Good for a year’s worth of visits, the annual America the Beautiful Pass is your ticket to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites across the country, including all of our National Parks.
Everyone is eligible for the America the Beautiful pass regardless of age or nationality. That said, there are also annual passes at a greater discount for US citizens and residents who are seniors, permanently disabled, volunteers, military, or 4th graders. More info on those here.
How does it work?
The America the Beautiful Pass is a physical pass. You can order it online or pick it up in person from one of the federal recreation areas where passes are issued. At most National Parks, there will be a ranger station where you’ll hand over your ID and America the Beautiful Pass. They’ll give it back to you, usually along with a park map, and that’s all it takes!
America the Beautiful Pass: List of Parks
The America the Beautiful Pass is accepted at more than 2,000 sites federally-owned lands managed by the Forest Service, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation. The list is always changing, but as a general rule, the pass is accepted at everything designated as a “National Park”, “National Forest”, or “National Memorial”. This also includes some “National Historic Sites”.
Sites excluded carry designations like “State Park”, “State Forest”, “County Park” or anything that indicates the land is owned by anyone other than the federal government. Also excluded are Native-owned lands. In most cases, you can buy a supplementary State Park or Forest Pass if you want unlimited entry to parks in a specific region.
List of National Parks
There are currently more than 60 National Parks in the US and all of them are included in the America the Beautiful Pass. Take a look below at this list of parks included in the America the Beautiful Pass. And if you want some help with your trip planning, I’ve linked to our blog posts on the National Parks mentioned!
- Acadia National Park
- American Samoa National Park
- Arches National Park
- Badlands National Park
- Big Bend National Park
- Biscayne National Park
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
- Bryce Canyon National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Capitol Reef National Park
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park
- Channel Islands National Park
- Congaree National Park
- Crater Lake National Park
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- Death Valley National Park
- Denali National Park
- Dry Tortugas National Park
- Everglades National Park
- Gates of the Arctic National Park
- Gateway Arch National Park
- Glacier National Park
- Glacier Bay National Park
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Grand Teton National Park
- Great Basin National Park
- Great Sand Dunes National Park
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
- Haleakala National Park
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
- Hot Springs National Park
- Indiana Dunes National Park
- Isle Royale National Park
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Katmai National Park
- Kenai Fjords National Park
- Kings Canyon National Park
- Kobuk Valley National Park
- Lake Clark National Park
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Mammoth Cave National Park
- Mesa Verde National Park
- Mount Rainier National Park
- New River Gorge National Park
- North Cascades National Park
- Olympic National Park
- Petrified Forest National Park
- Pinnacles National Park
- Redwood National Park
- Rocky Mountain National Park
- Saguaro National Park
- Sequoia National Park
- Shenandoah National Park
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park
- Virgin Islands National Park
- Voyageurs National Park
- White Sands National Park
- Wind Cave National Park
- Wrangell – St. Elias National Park
- Yellowstone National Park
- Yosemite National Park
- Zion National Park
NATIONAL PARKS
List of National Forests
There are over 100 National Forest lands included in the America the Beautiful Pass. Here’s a list of some, but be sure to double-check with the forests before visiting as this list is always changing.
- Allegheny, PA
- Angeles, CA
- Angelina, TX
- Apache-Sitgreaves, AZ
- Apalachicola, FL
- Arapaho, CO
- Ashley, UT
- Beaverhead-Deerlodge, MT
- Bienville, MS
- Bighorn, WY
- Bitterroot, MT
- Black Hills, SD
- Boise, ID
- Bridger-Teton, WY
- Caribou-Targhee, ID, WY
- Carson, NM
- Chattahoochee-Oconee, GA
- Chequamegon-Nicolet, WI
- Cherokee, TN, NC
- Chippewa, MN
- Chugach, AK
- Cibola, NM
- Clearwater,
- Cleveland, CA
- Coconino, AZ
- Colville, WA
- Conecuh, AL
- Coronado, AZ, NM
- Croatan, NC
- Custer, MT, SD
- Daniel Boone, KY
- Davy Crockett, TX
- Delta,
- Deschutes, OR
- De Soto,
- Dixie, UT
- Eldorado, CA
- El Yunque,
- Finger Lakes, NY
- Fishlake, UT
- Flathead,
- Francis Marion, SC
- Fremont-Winema, OR
- Gallatin, MT
- George Washington & Jefferson, VA, WV, KY
- Gifford Pinchot, WA
- Gila, NM
- Grand Mesa, CO
- Green Mountain, VT
- Gunnison, CO
- Helena, MT
- Hiawatha, MI
- Holly Springs, MS
- Homochitto, MS
- Hoosier, IN
- Humboldt-Toiyabe, NV, NM
- Huron-Manistee, MI
- Idaho Panhandle
- Coeur d’Alene, St. Joe, Kaniksu, ID, MT, WA
- Inyo, CA, NV
- Kaibab, AZ
- Kisatchie, LA
- Klamath, CA, OR
- Kootenai, MT, ID
- Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, CA, NV
- Land Between The Lakes, KY, TN
- Lassen, CA
- Lewis and Clark, MT
- Lincoln, NM
- Lolo, MT
- Los Padres, CA
- Malheur, OR
- Manti-La Sal, UT, CO
- Mark Twain, MO
- Medicine Bow – Routt, CO, WY
- Mendocino, CA
- Modoc, CA
- Monongahela, WV
- Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, WA
- Mount Hood, OR
- Nantahala, NC
- Nebraska, NE
- Nez Perce, ID
- Ocala, FL
- Ochoco, OR
- Okanogan-Wenatchee, WA
- Olympic, WA
- Osceola, FL
- Ottawa, MI
- Ouachita, AR, OK
- Ozark-St. Francis, AR
- Payette, ID
- Pike, CO
- Pisgah, NC
- Plumas, CA
- Prescott, AZ
- Rio Grande, CO
- Rogue River-Siskiyou, OR, CA
- Roosevelt, CO
- Sabine, TX
- Salmon-Challis, ID
- Sam Houston, TX
- Samuel R. McKelvie, NE
- San Bernardino, CA
- San Isabel, CO
- San Juan, CO
- Santa Fe, NM
- Sawtooth, ID, UT
- Sequoia, CA
- Shasta-Trinity, CA
- Shawnee, IL
- Shoshone, WY
- Sierra, CA
- Siuslaw, OR
- Six Rivers, CA
- Stanislaus, CA
- Sumter, SC
- Superior, MN
- Tahoe, CA
- Talladega, AL
- Tombigbee, MS
- Tongass, AK
- Tonto, AZ
- Tuskegee, AL
- Uinta-Wasatch-Cache, UT, WY
- Umatilla, OR, WA
- Umpqua, OR
- Uncompahgre, CO
- Uwharrie, NC
- Wallowa-Whitman, OR, ID
- Wayne, OH
- White Mountain, NH, ME
- White River, CO
- Willamette, OR
- William B. Bankhead, AL
All the rest
With 2,000 sites and a constantly changing list, the best thing you can do ahead of your trip is check directly with the park you’re visiting to confirm it will work. If you’re not sure where you’d like to go, you can see complete listings of federally-owned parks, forests, and protected lands on each of the governing agency websites. But be warned, in some cases, these websites are beasts! They have the most up-to-date information but they’re better approached once you already have a park in mind. There are better tools out there for actually planning your National Park trip.
6 Comments
Stacia McGourty
February 5, 2021 at 1:17 amPlease check the postal abbreviations being used in the list of National Forests – the Arkansas (AR) locations are marked with an AK (Alaska)
Ouachita, AK, OK
Ozark-St. Francis, AK
Taylor Record
February 16, 2021 at 10:43 pmAh, good catch. Thank you, Stacia!
José Luis Ortiz
July 7, 2021 at 6:33 pmPlease tell me about places near Connecticut where L can use they access pass. Thanks.
Piper
February 14, 2022 at 8:13 pmThe pass is mostly useless in the northeast and Connecticut has absolutely no national park – that’s the reason why nothing from CT is on that list. There’s Cape Cod in MA and Acadia in Maine, both of those are cheaper to visit by just paying at the gate than buying this rip off…
Sean Henry
March 6, 2022 at 12:08 pmThanks for the very helpful information. I have a pass and just starting our park exploration. Much appreciated.
Taylor Record
March 16, 2022 at 6:59 pmGlad it was helpful, Sean! Enjoy your trip.