UPDATED: National Park & Federal Land Passes Explained - NEW Non-Resident Fee Details and more

Parkography

RV Miles Network

Society & Culture, Nature, History, Science, Society & Culture:places & Travel, Places & Travel

4.9 • 870 Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2026

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I'm again breaking down the various types of passes available for national parks and other federal recreation areas, now updated with the new non-resident pass and non-resident fees. We have all of the details about how that will work for residents and non-residents alike. I'll explain the America the Beautiful Pass, the Senior Pass, the Access Pass, and the Military Pass, detailing their benefits and eligibility criteria. Learn which pass is right for you, how to obtain it, and how to maximize your visits to federal lands. Order your passes online here: https://store.usgs.gov/recreational-passes Get the Every Kid Outdoors 4th & 5th Grade Pass here: https://everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm Find the Slinky Stove that's right for your next adventure at: https://www.slinkystove.com/?ref=PARKography Join the PARKography Facebook group to discuss this episode and more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/parkography Check out our other channels focused on RV travel: @RVMiles @RVMilesPodcast 00:00 Introduction to National Park Passes00:26 Major Changes to Passes in 202601:00 Understanding Interagency Passes02:08 Annual Pass Details05:49 Non-Resident Fees and Passes09:25 Digital vs. Physical Passes13:10 Special Passes: Senior, Access, and Military19:20 Purchasing and Using Passes21:59 Common Questions and Tips24:37 Conclusion

Transcript

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0:00.0	There are a lot of different types of passes available for national parks and other federal
0:05.2	recreation areas. And those passes just had some major changes implemented. It can be confusing
0:11.3	trying to figure out which one, if any, you need. And in this episode, we're going to break
0:15.5	down all the different types of passes so you can decide which one is right for you. This
0:19.8	is parkography. Welcome back,
0:22.0	everybody. I recorded a version of this episode back in November. You may have saw it just before
0:27.4	some major changes were announced to National Park and other federal land passes, such as the new
0:33.2	non-resident fees and passes that went into effect January 1st, 2026. And we have details on exactly how all of that works,
0:40.5	as well as all of the info about the new digital passes that work off of your phone
0:46.1	and why they might not be the best choice. So here I'm going to cover all of the info about
0:50.8	passes that I can and try to decomplicate it as much as possible so you
0:55.7	can make the right decisions for you. But fair warning, it's complicated. So what we're
1:00.4	talking about here are not just National Park passes, but passes to U.S. federal lands of all
1:04.9	stripes. They're called interagency passes, referring to the fact that several agencies
1:10.7	manage our federal lands, including
1:13.1	the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife,
1:18.3	Army Corps of Engineers, and more. Many of these lands that are operated by the federal government
1:23.6	have recreation fees required to access them. And because there are so many different
1:29.3	agencies, there are different fees and there are different ways to pay them. But all these
1:33.9	agencies came together years ago to develop what we now call the America the Beautiful
1:38.3	Pass. But you might see it referred to as the interagency pass occasionally. The America
1:43.6	the Beautiful Pass is the pass that allows you
	...

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