Interior announces digital park passes alongside new, 'America-first' fee structure

"Lawmakers instructed the government to offer digital passes no later than Jan. 1, 2026, in a bipartisan outdoor recreation package signed into law by former President Joe Biden in January of this year. Moving the park pass series into digital form has been an ambition of some lawmakers since at least 2022. Beginning in January, the America the Beautiful park passes will be available for people to purchase and store digitally on their mobile devices. Users will also be able to link them to their physical, plastic copies of the cards."

"The digital, annual passes can be stored, managed and accessed from a Recreation.gov account, mobile app or mobile wallet. People purchasing them can also pay more to get a physical pass, too. That may be useful, as the government warns those purchasing the digital version that some parks don't have cell phone coverage, and others are unstaffed and require vehicles to display passes - meaning that a visitor would need to either print their digital pass or bring a physical one."

Digital versions of the America the Beautiful park pass series will debut next year with redesigned cards and some passes featuring photos of President Donald Trump. A new resident-focused fee structure will charge international tourists higher fees to visit the most popular national parks or to purchase park passes. Lawmakers required digital pass availability by Jan. 1, 2026 through a bipartisan outdoor recreation law signed in January. Beginning in January, passes will be purchasable and storable on mobile devices and linkable to physical plastic cards. The annual pass rolled out digitally on Nov. 20. Digital passes can be managed through Recreation.gov, a mobile app, or mobile wallet, and buyers may pay extra for a physical pass. Some parks lack cell coverage or staffing to display passes, requiring visitors to print or carry a physical pass. The National Park Service flagged funding and internet connectivity as barriers when seeking vendor information in 2023.

Read at Nextgov.com