Yosemite National Park, which currently has a $20-$35 entry fee, will be charging foreign tourists more to visit. Photo: Unsplash
If you’re a foreign tourist looking to visit one of the many national parks in the United States, you’re going to have to pay a higher entry fee in the coming months.
On July 3, Donald Trump signed an executive order that called on Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to raise prices for anyone who doesn’t live in the US. It will affect all national parks that require fees for entrance and recreation.
“To fund improvements and enhanced experiences across the park system, I’ve just signed an executive order to raise entrance fees for foreign tourists while keeping prices low for Americans,” Trump said on Thursday. “The national parks will be about America first.”
According to reports, “the Interior Department estimated that such a surcharge would generate more than $90 million annually.”
At the time of this writing, it’s not clear when the price hike might come into affect, how much it would be, and how much United States residents would save on their fees as a result of it.
Fees vary widely across the national park system, and some of them are free to visit. There are a variety of ways to pay at the moment, including day or week passes to specific parks, as well as annual passes that can be used at different locations. There is also a pass called the “America the Beautiful” pass that allows the holder entrance to all national parks for $112.
The Trump administration recently made huge cuts to National Park Service staff, laying off workers as part of the DOGE cuts. CBS reports that the Park Service has lost 24 percent of its permanent staff since President Trump took office in January.
“Increasing fees for foreign visitors will also ensure fairness,” the White House wrote. “American citizens fund national parks and public lands with their tax dollars, yet they are currently charged the same rate as foreign visitors who do not pay taxes, meaning that American citizens pay more to see their own national treasures than foreign visitors do. President Trump is ending this unfair situation and putting Americans first.”
