Indiana Dunes National Park is now charging an entrance fee/NPS file
It now costs most of you to enter Indiana Dunes National Park.
The park located on the southern tip of Lake Michigan on Friday began requiring visitors to either show their annual park pass or pay an entrance fee. The fees are to be spent on a number of parking information improvements, deferred maintenance projects, and visitor services for a park that has seen its attendance increase from 1.7 million visitors to more than 3 million since its name change in February of 2019. This new fee only affects the national park and does not change the fee collected by the state for entrance into the Indiana Dunes State Park.
Depending on the method used to enter the national park, the fees vary. The per person/walk-in/bike-in/boat-in rate: $15 (up to a maximum of $25 per family), Motorcycle Pass: $20, One to Seven-Day Vehicle Pass: $25, Indiana Dunes National Park Annual Pass: $45 and Commercial Fee for a Motor Coach (Bus): up to $100.
This new fee is covered for holders of the following federal land passes: Annual Pass, Senior Pass, Veterans, Military and Gold Star Family Pass, 4th Grade Pass, Access Pass (for permanent disability), and the Volunteer Pass.
The Indiana Dunes National Park Annual Pass and other federal passes are available now at www.recreation.gov and at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center. Starting March 31, passes are also available at the Paul H Douglas Center and beginning April 8th at the West Beach Entrance Station. Some local retailers near the park will sell some park passes. The first retailer is The Trail Stop, located in the pavilion at Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk. Information will be available on the park website as other vendors are added.
Comments
Patriot, I would guess that Cory Gardner will be quite surprised that he is a Democrat.
He authored the Senate version, it was first passed by the House a year before.
He sponsored the Senate version, there where 10 Republican co-sponsors of the House version and a Republican president sign it. Never saw such a bill passed and signed when the Dems were in control.
First we designate it as a National Park. That attracts many more visitors, so construction projects are needed to accommodate the increased traffic and visitation. That costs money, so high fees are charged to visit what used to be a more natural area. The original experience is degraded for all. What was the motivation to make it a National Park?
A $15.00 entry fee is outrageous, the only thing there is the beach, but not everyone wants to swim. $15.00 to walk down to the lighthouse is crazy. You have just ended attendance by most people in the area.
The more money the NPS gets for deferred maintenance the more they want. 30 years of steadily increasing money with no result. PS Indiana Funes would make a lovely State Park.