Visitors exploring the park by bike. NPS/C. Lycopolus

Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern New Mexico is proposing to resume the collection of entrance fees and is seeking public input on it.

If approved, the fees would take effect January 1, 2025. The proposed entrance fee would cover seven consecutive days of entrance to the park. Rates are set by the national Park Service office at $25 for a vehicle pass, $15 per person, or $20 for a motorcycle. The proposal includes the option of a $45 annual pass specific to Valles Caldera and the ability to sell or issue the America the Beautiful annual and lifetime passes. In addition, the park plans to eliminate separate fees for fishing once the entrance fee program resumes.

“This is a critical step in the development of new visitor-centered infrastructure and experiences in the park,” said Superintendent Jorge Silva-Bañuelos. “With key long-range planning efforts concluding in 2025, the addition of recreation use fees will allow us to begin implementing these plans more quickly to further enhance visitor access and recreational opportunities in the park.”

Comments are being taken on the proposal through August 17. You can learn more about the proposal and leave your comments at this site.

Entrance fees were originally suspended in 2017 due to the lack of basic infrastructure and other visitor services beyond the existing entrance station, and the park used the intervening period to improve visitor-related infrastructure and develop new interpretive media and programming. For example, roads have been greatly improved, vehicle access was expanded four miles into the park to the historic cabin district, pedestrian access points were added at seven locations along the park boundary, and a new backcountry vehicle system was implemented.

Valles Caldera also established a junior ranger program, and is offering more than 100 in-park programs, including winter skiing and snowshoeing programs on 16 miles of groomed trails, fly-fishing clinics, ranger-guided hikes, night sky events, and seasonal special events. And over the next year, the park will begin construction on new parking areas, public EV charging stations, new interpretive trails and signage, and a major new exhibit in the park ranger station.

The proposed resumption of entrance fees is necessary for Valles Caldera National Preserve to continue to develop and maintain high-quality visitor services in the park, park staff said in a release. While basic park operations are funded by direct appropriations from Congress, the fees collected by the park support new projects and maintenance of facilities that directly enhance visitor experience.

The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) is the legislation that allows the park to collect entrance and amenity fees. This law allows parks like Valles Caldera National Preserve to retain 100 percent of the fees collected in park for use on projects that directly benefit park visitors.