Which national parks actually charge entrance fees?

Most of the National Park System is free. Out of 433 units, 107 publish an entrance fee, about 23 percent. The famous parks charge, and almost everything else doesn't, including monuments, historic sites, military parks, seashores, and recreation areas. People plan whole trips assuming a $30 toll at every gate, and it just isn't there.

Where fees do exist, they come in a few standard shapes. A private vehicle rate, usually $20 to $35, covers the car and everyone in it for seven days. A per-person rate, $10 to $20, covers walk-ins, cyclists, and shuttle riders. Motorcycles slot in between. Some parks sell their own annual pass for $35 to $70, which is only worth it if you live nearby and visit that one park constantly; for everyone else the $80 federal pass covers every park at once.

Our fee comparison table puts every unit with published fees on one page, sorted by price. It's worth two minutes before any road trip, mostly to notice how many stops on your route cost nothing.

When a park shows no fee here

If a park page on this site has no fee table, the Park Service publishes no structured fee data for it. Usually that means entry is free. Occasionally it means fees exist but only in prose on the official page, which is why every page here links straight to the source. Confirm before you drive far on the assumption.

Worth knowing at the gate: the seven-day window is standard at the big parks, so one payment covers the whole stay. Federal passes cover entrance fees only, not camping or tours. And a few parks quietly collect nothing outside staffed hours, which is not a thing to plan around, just a thing that happens.