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Valles Caldera Bringing Back Entrance Fees In 2025

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Compiled from NPS Releases

Published Date

November 19, 2024

Orientation panel installed this year overlooking Valle Grande / NPS

Starting January 1, 2025, the National Park Service will reinstate entrance fees at Valles Caldera National Preserve. The park will keep 100% of the fees collected, using them for projects that directly enhance visitor experiences, such as improving roads, trails, and trailheads. As part of this update, the park will no longer charge separate fees for fishing. During a public comment period last summer, more than two-thirds of respondents supported bringing back the entrance fee.

The fee will cover seven consecutive days of access to Valles Caldera: $25 per vehicle, $15 per person, and $20 per motorcycle. Visitors can also purchase a $45 annual pass for Valles Caldera or use the America the Beautiful pass.

Superintendent Jorge Silva-Bañuelos highlighted the park’s progress in expanding access, improving trails, and offering educational programs, noting that the reinstated fees will allow the park to accelerate plans for even more enhancements to visitor services and recreational opportunities.

Entrance fees were initially paused in 2017 due to limited services at the newly established national park. Since then, Valles Caldera has expanded vehicle access by four miles to the historic cabin district, opened seven new pedestrian access points, improved park roads, and launched a backcountry vehicle reservation system. The park now offers over 100 programs annually, including fly-fishing clinics, ranger-led hikes, night sky events, and winter activities like skiing and snowshoeing on 16 miles of groomed trails. It has also introduced a junior ranger program and seasonal special events.

In the coming year, the park plans to construct new parking areas, install EV charging stations, create interpretive trails with updated signage, and develop a major new interactive exhibit. These projects will further enrich the visitor experience at Valles Caldera.

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Comments

Submitted by A. Johnson on November 19, 2024 - 9:22am.

 install EV charging stations,

 

I'm not sure why the American public/NPS is directly financing the use of privately owned vehicles.

 

These projects will further enrich the visitor experience at Valles Caldera.

 

So would a gas pump offering free gasoline for visitors..Why is the NPS picking & choosing winners & losers in private transportation?

 

 


Submitted by James Longstreet on November 19, 2024 - 12:54pm.

I woudn't assume that the use of the EV charging stations will be at no cost to the public.  Tehy are usually billed through one of several apps that most EV car owners understand and have. 


Submitted by A. Johnson on November 19, 2024 - 5:11pm.

I will  assume that the proposed charging stations at VC will be free, because that's the NPS norm.  For example, Grand Canyon NP:

 

Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are located in Grand Canyon Village (South Rim)

No EV charging is available at Desert View or on the North Rim.
All EV chargers around the Village are Level II, open to the public, and free of charge.
While most of the EV chargers in the park offer a J1772 type plug, three Tesla chargers are available at Yavapai Lodge East.


Submitted by justin.housman on November 25, 2024 - 5:38pm.

This is directly from the NPS: "Promoting electric vehicle travel to and from national parks will not only reduce the emissions from our visitors, but help to meet the demand for emissions-free electrical supply as EV adoption increases overall and states like California develop ambitious targets for EV adoption."

I don't think a handful of EV charging stations is necessarily picking and choosing private transportation winners and losers. It's also feasible to install EV chargers, and very much not so to install gas pumps in parking lots of national parks. 


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