Bandelier entrance fees increase Friday to provide the park additional funding for infrastructure and maintenance needs. Courtesy/NPS

BANDELIER News:

• Additional revenue to address infrastructure needs and improve visitor experience 

Bandelier National Monument announces that entrance fees will increase this Friday, June 1, 2018. The new fees will be $25 per vehicle, $20 per motorcycle and $15 per person. The Bandelier annual park pass will cost $45. This increase will the provide the park additional funding for infrastructure and maintenance needs to enhance the visitor experience. 

Revenue from entrance fees remains in the National Park Service and helps ensure a quality experience for all who visit. At Bandelier, at least 80 percent of entrance fees stay in the park and are devoted to spending that supports the visitor. We share the other 20 percent of entry fee income with other national parks for their projects.

This change, for all entrance fee-charging parks, is in response to the public comments received on the proposal to increase peak-season fees at 17 highly-visited national parks, that was released in October 2017. 

National parks have experienced record breaking visitation, with more than 1.5 billion visitors in the last five years. Throughout the country, the combination of an aging infrastructure and increased visitation has put a strain on park roads, bridges, campgrounds, waterlines, bathrooms, and other visitor services and led to a $11.6 billion deferred maintenance backlog nationwide.

The additional revenue collected from entrance fees at Bandelier will be used for educational and interpretive exhibits in the visitor center and to continue the rehabilitation of trails and campgrounds.

Entrance fees collected by the National Park Service totaled $199.9 million in Fiscal Year 2016. The NPS estimates that once fully implemented, the new fee structure will increase annual entrance fee revenue by about $60 million. 

Bandelier is one of 117 National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee; the other 300 national parks will remain free to enter.

The price of the annual America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass and Lifetime Senior Pass will remain $80. 

The National Park Service has a standardized entrance fee structure, composed of four groups based on park size and type. Group 2 sites, like Bandelier, include national monuments, lake shores, seashores, recreation areas and historical parks. Some parks not yet aligned with the other parks in their category will raise their fees incrementally and fully incorporate the new entrance fee schedule by Jan. 1, 2020.

The complete fee schedule will change according to the following: