We’re not going to lie to you, getting old pretty much sucks, but once in a while you catch a break. The lifetime senior National Parks that costs $10 for anyone sixty two years of age is a pretty sweet deal. Almost every National and State Park has some kind of fee. If you spend a lot of time traveling, camping or fishing, these fees can really add up. The National Parks Pass gets you in all National Parks that charge a fee and maybe a discount on camping or boat launching. You also get access to a lot of other government land. For example, in the Columbia River Gorge there is Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington and right across the Columbia River in Oregon, is Mt. Hood National Forest. With the senior Parks Pass, you don’t need a Northwest Forest Pass, which is $30 every year. Also covered are U.S Army Corps of Engineers recreation areas. A lot of those are around water and you get 50% off camping.
State Parks are not covered by the National Parks Pass, so you’ll usually wind up with a couple of annual State passes as well. We did mention that the fees start to add up… The price of the senior National Parks Pass is supposed to go up to $80 later this year. Supposedly, it will be at least a few months before there is any price increase. For the price, if you are over sixty two, a $10 pass sounds like a pretty good deal.