US national parks: what foreign visitors pay from 2026 onwards

What changed in January 2026

$100. That is what a foreign visitor now pays for the mere right to pass the Grand Canyon’s entrance gate, before even buying a ticket for the park. Since 1 January 2026, the National Park Service, the federal agency that runs the national parks, has charged this fee to every non-resident aged 16 and over in eleven of the most visited parks: Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion [1].

The measure stems from a presidential executive order calling for higher charges for non-residents. The same move created two prices for the America the Beautiful annual pass: $80 for US residents, $250 for everyone else [1] [2]. Free entry days, meanwhile, are now free for residents only: on those days, a foreign visitor pays the entrance fee and the non-resident fee as usual [1].

The fee applies only in these eleven parks. Most sites run by the National Park Service remain free [2], and the other fee-charging parks simply ask for their usual entrance fee [1].

Who pays the fee, and how to prove you are a resident

The fee is charged per person, from the age of 16: children aged 15 and under pay neither the entrance fee nor the non-resident fee [3]. It comes on top of the park’s normal entrance fee, $35 for a private vehicle and all its passengers in most of the eleven parks [4]. Mind the neighbours: the road into Yellowstone through its South Entrance crosses Grand Teton, and each park charges its own entrance fee [5].

Resident status is proved with a US document: the National Park Service lists a US passport, a driving licence or ID card issued by a US state, and the permanent resident card, better known as the ‘green card’. A digital pass can be bought without any check, but its holder shows photo ID at every entrance; anyone not entitled to the resident price is asked to upgrade to the non-resident pass [1].

On an organised tour, the rule is the same: every foreign participant aged 16 and over pays the fee, unless they have their own non-resident pass. In a commercial group, that pass covers its holder and three other non-residents aged 16 and over [3]. Passes bought before 1 January 2026 remain valid until they expire, on their original terms, fee included [1].

Enlarge photo

Pay at the gate or buy a pass: the sums

The America the Beautiful pass for non-residents costs $250. It covers the whole vehicle, or two motorcycles, or its holder and three adults where entry is charged per person, and it waives the $100 fee [1]. It is valid for a year, from the month of purchase to the end of the same month the following year. It cannot be lent, and its holder must be present [3].

It is not just for national parks: it also covers entrance fees and day-use fees at sites run by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers [2]. A road trip through the American West tends to cross several of them.

Take two adults and two children under 16, travelling by car. In one of the eleven parks, they pay $35 for the car and $200 in fees, $235 in all. At the second park, the bill reaches $470, almost double the price of the pass. With three adults, the pass pays for itself at the very first park: $335 at the gate, against $250.

The detail that changes everything, if you are visiting only one park: its annual pass. Yellowstone and Zion, for example, sell theirs for $70 [5] [6], and the National Park Service states that park-specific annual passes also cover the entrance fee and the non-resident fee for the holder and passengers in a private vehicle [1]. For the family in the example, that is $70 instead of $235. The same rule applies to any valid America the Beautiful pass, the $80 resident pass included: if you travel in the car of American friends who have one, you do not pay the non-resident fee [1]. This pass is valid only in its own park, Zion’s can only be bought on site [6], and so generous a rule may change: check the park’s page just before you leave.

Enlarge diagram

Timed entry reservations: where things stand in 2026

Paying is not always enough: a few parks cap the number of cars with a timed entry reservation, booked on Recreation.gov, the federal booking site [2]. Good news: in 2026, there are fewer of them. Arches, Yosemite and Glacier have dropped their entry reservations, as has Mount Rainier [7] [8]. Glacier keeps parking limits at Logan Pass and active traffic management on the Going-to-the-Sun Road [7].

At Rocky Mountain, you can also enter without a time slot before 9am or after 2pm [9]. At Acadia, motorhomes, trailers and vehicles over 21 feet (6.4 m) long, bike racks included, are not allowed up to the summit [10]. At Zion, a permit application covers six people at most [11].

Enlarge photo

Where to buy your pass, and what to take

The digital pass is sold on Recreation.gov and works straight away. The physical version is sold at more than 1,000 federal sites, or by post from the USGS online store, with a wait of up to three weeks: better to buy it on arrival or in digital form. Passes are non-refundable and non-transferable, and cannot be replaced if lost or stolen [2]. Take the pass and its holder’s photo ID: the National Park Service requires both at every entrance [2]. Bring a debit or credit card too: the Grand Canyon, for one, no longer accepts cash [12].

With the sums done, the best part remains: choosing between Yellowstone’s geysers and Zion’s red cliffs, then setting off early, while the car parks are still empty and the low light skims across the canyons.

Gallery: six of the eleven parks concerned

Six real photos of parks where the new non-resident fee applies, in alphabetical order, published under free licences on Wikimedia Commons by their authors, who are credited under each image. Tap or click a photo to enlarge it.

Enlarge photo

Enlarge photo

Enlarge photo

Enlarge photo

Enlarge photo

Enlarge photo

Nolwenn Bastide

Trail running, snow, water, nature and destinations

Nolwenn covers trail running, snow, water, nature and destinations for Outfarer. Curious about everything, from meteor showers to night-train timetables, she has a knack for unearthing the one detail that changes everything, and putting it in a single sentence.

All their articles