Backcountry permits for trips into the Rincon Mountain Wilderness at Saguaro National Park are now available online/Kurt Repanshek file

The days of walking into a visitor center at Saguaro National Park and picking up a backcountry permit for the Rincon Mountain Wilderness are numbered. You now can obtain a backcountry permit through recreation.gov, and after January 31 the visitor centers will stop issuing the permits.

“We are responding to a visitor request to make obtaining camping permits easier, especially for through hikers on the Arizona Trail,” said Saguaro Chief Ranger Ray O’Neil. “Visitors will be able to make camping arrangements online from their homes prior to their trip or on their mobile devices without having to come into the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center to pick up the permit.”

The park in the past has managed wilderness camping permits in person or via fax and regular mail. Park staff believes moving the process to recreation.gov, where you can reserve a site two months ahead of your trip, will create a more responsive and faster service for campers without an increase in cost per permit. Permits will continue to cost $8 per campsite per night.

Saguaro National Park has six campgrounds in the Rincon Mountains, all of which are accessible only by hiking or on horseback. 

Along with that change, the National Park Service announced that Saguaro will modify its entrance fees to provide additional funding for infrastructure and maintenance needs to enhance the visitor experience. Effective January 1, 2020, entrance fees to the park will be $25 per vehicle, $20 per motorcycle, $15 for individual pedestrian or bicycle, and an annual park pass will cost $45. 

This change is the final incremental increase designed to align the park with the national fee schedule designed in response to visitor comments on a proposal in October 2017, where each fee-collecting park would implement a modest increase rather than the higher peak-season fees initially proposed for only 17 highly visited parks. Saguaro National Park is one of 117 National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee; the other smaller national park units remain free to enter. 

The price of the annual America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass and the Lifetime Senior Pass will remain at $80.  Saguaro's annual senior pass remains at $20, and the Active Military and Access Passes will continue to be free.

The revenue from entrance fees at Saguaro enables the park to address ongoing park-wide trail maintenance and ensure quality experience for park visitors.