Updated July 2026. Every figure verified against the official state park agency of each state — sources linked in the table, full dataset available as a free download below.
How much does a day in a state park cost in 2026? We compared day-use fees and annual passes across all 50 state park systems — over 2,500 individual park fee records from our database, checked state by state against official sources. The short version: ten states charge nothing at all, one state now charges $200 for its annual pass, and 2026 is shaping up as the year of the state park fee hike.
Ten states charge nothing at all — while Arizona’s annual pass now costs $200, the most expensive in the nation.
State Park Fees Study 2026, America’s State Parks
Key findings
10
states are completely free
Arkansas to West Virginia — no entrance fee at any state park.
$200
most expensive annual pass
Arizona consolidated its passes into a single $200 pass for 2026.
11¢
per park — best value in America
Michigan’s $15 Recreation Passport covers 135 parks.
- 2026 is the year of fee increases: Arizona’s annual pass jumped to $200, Georgia doubled both its day fee ($5 → $10) and annual pass ($50 → $70), Washington’s Discover Pass rose 50% ($30 → $45), Oregon doubled its day-use fee, and Delaware raised its 2026 rates.
- Fee models vary wildly: most states charge per vehicle, seven charge per person, and several (Michigan, Montana, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho) collect through vehicle registration instead of gate fees.
All 50 states compared
Day-use fees shown are the standard resident rate published by each state agency; many states charge more for out-of-state visitors. Annual pass prices are the standard resident pass. Every row links to the official source.
| State | Day-use fee | Annual pass | Pass price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $2–5 per person | Individual Annual Pass | $105 | alapark.com |
| Alaska | $5–10 per vehicle | Annual Daily Parking Decal | $60 | dnr.alaska.gov |
| Arizona | $10–30 per vehicle | AZ State Parks Annual Pass | $200 | azstateparks.com |
| Arkansas | Free | No annual pass (entry is free) | — | arkansasstateparks.com |
| California | $3–20 per vehicle | California Explorer Annual Day Use Pass | $195 | parks.ca.gov |
| Colorado | $4–17 per vehicle | Keep Colorado Wild Pass | $29 | cpw.state.co.us |
| Connecticut | $0 (CT-registered vehicles) per vehicle | Passport to the Parks | $0 (included in vehicle registration) | portal.ct.gov |
| Delaware | $5–10 (residents) / $10–20 (out-of-state) per vehicle | Annual Pass | $50 (resident) | destateparks.com |
| Florida | $4–8 per vehicle | Individual Annual Entrance Pass | $60 | floridastateparks.org |
| Georgia | $10 per vehicle | Annual ParkPass | $70 | gastateparks.org |
| Hawaii | $0 residents / $5 non-residents per person | No statewide annual pass | — | dlnr.hawaii.gov |
| Idaho | $7 per vehicle | Idaho State Parks Passport | $10 | parksandrecreation.idaho.gov |
| Illinois | Free | No annual pass (entry is free) | — | dnr.illinois.gov |
| Indiana | $7 (in-state) / $20 (out-of-state) per vehicle | Annual Entrance Pass | $50 | in.gov |
| Iowa | Free | No annual pass (entry is free) | — | iowadnr.gov |
| Kansas | $5 per vehicle | Annual Park Vehicle Permit | $25 | kdwpt.ks.gov |
| Kentucky | Free | No annual pass (entry is free) | — | parks.ky.gov |
| Louisiana | $3 per person | Annual Park Pass | $100 | lastateparks.com |
| Maine | $2–6 (residents) / $3–8 (non-residents) per person | Individual Pass / Vehicle Pass | $55 individual / $105 vehicle | maine.gov |
| Maryland | varies 3–5 per person | Maryland State Park & Trail Passport | $75 | dnr.maryland.gov |
| Massachusetts | $5–12 (residents) per vehicle | MassParks Annual Pass | $60 | mass.gov |
| Michigan | $0 (no day fee for residents) per vehicle | Recreation Passport | $15 | michigan.gov |
| Minnesota | $7 per vehicle | Year-Round Vehicle Permit | $35 | dnr.state.mn.us |
| Mississippi | $4 per vehicle | Annual Pass | $50 | mdwfp.com |
| Missouri | Free | No annual pass (entry is free) | — | mostateparks.com |
| Montana | $0 for residents (funded via vehicle registration) per vehicle | State Parks Fee (via vehicle registration) | $9 (with vehicle registration) | fwp.mt.gov |
| Nebraska | $7 (NE plates) per vehicle | Annual Park Entry Permit | $35 | outdoornebraska.gov |
| Nevada | $5–10 (NV vehicles; varies by park) per vehicle | Annual Day Use Permit | $100 | parks.nv.gov |
| New Hampshire | $4–5 (adults) per person | Individual Season Pass | $60 | nhstateparks.org |
| New Jersey | $0–10 (residents; most parks free, seasonal fees at some) per vehicle | State Park Pass | $50 | dep.nj.gov |
| New Mexico | $5 (residents) per vehicle | Annual Day Use Pass | $75 (resident) | emnrd.nm.gov |
| New York | $6–10 per vehicle | Empire Pass | $80 | parks.ny.gov |
| North Carolina | Free | Annual Pass for Reservoirs | $70 | ncparks.gov |
| North Dakota | $7 per vehicle | Annual Vehicle Permit | $35 | parkrec.nd.gov |
| Ohio | Free | No annual pass (entry is free) | — | ohiodnr.gov |
| Oklahoma | $10 ($8 with OK plates) per vehicle | Annual Parking Pass | $60 (OK plates; $75 otherwise) | travelok.com |
| Oregon | $10 (in-state) per vehicle | 12-Month Day-Use Parking Permit | $60 (resident) | stateparks.oregon.gov |
| Pennsylvania | Free | No annual pass (entry is free) | — | pa.gov |
| Rhode Island | $6–7 (residents; beach parking only) per vehicle | Season Beach Parking Pass | $30 (resident, beach parking) | riparks.ri.gov |
| South Carolina | $2–10 (typically ~$5) per person | ALL Park Passport | $99 | southcarolinaparks.com |
| South Dakota | $10 per vehicle | Annual Park Entrance License | $40 | gfp.sd.gov |
| Tennessee | Free | No annual pass (entry is free) | — | tnstateparks.com |
| Texas | $2-8 (varies) per person | Texas State Parks Pass | $70 | tpwd.texas.gov |
| Utah | $10-25 (varies) per vehicle | Utah State Parks Annual Day-Use Pass | $125 | stateparks.utah.gov |
| Vermont | $5 adults / $2 children 4–13 per person | Individual Pass / Vehicle Pass | $40 individual / $105 vehicle | vtstateparks.com |
| Virginia | $5-10 (varies) per vehicle | Naturally Yours Passport | $85 | dcr.virginia.gov |
| Washington | $10 per vehicle | Discover Pass | $45 | parks.wa.gov |
| West Virginia | Free | No annual pass (entry is free) | — | wvstateparks.com |
| Wisconsin | $13 per vehicle | 12-month vehicle admission pass | $28 | dnr.wisconsin.gov |
| Wyoming | $7 per vehicle | Resident Annual Day Use Pass | $48 (resident) | wyoparks.wyo.gov |
The 10 states where every state park is free
Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia charge no entrance or day-use fee at any state park. That’s a fifth of the country — a sharp contrast to national parks, where a single vehicle entry can cost $35. The funding models differ: Missouri dedicates a fraction of its sales tax to parks, Tennessee treats free entry as policy and asks for donations, and Pennsylvania keeps all 124 parks free while charging only for camping and rentals. New Jersey and Delaware come close but charge seasonal fees at select parks. If you live in — or road-trip through — one of these states, the park finder will keep you busy for a season without a single entrance fee.
2026: the year of the fee hike
Five systems raised prices for 2026 — the broadest wave of increases in years. Arizona consolidated its passes into a single $200 annual pass, now the nation’s most expensive. Georgia doubled its day fee to $10 and raised the ParkPass from $50 to $70. Washington’s Discover Pass rose from $30 to $45 — the first increase since the pass launched in 2011. Oregon doubled its day-use parking fee to $10. Delaware raised 2026 rates across the board. For pass-by-pass details and whether an annual pass pays off for your travel pattern, see our complete annual pass guide.
Best value: price per park
Divide each annual pass by the number of state-managed parks and public lands it unlocks, and the value gap is enormous:
| Rank | State | Annual pass | Parks covered | Cost per park |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan | $15 | 135 | $0.11 |
| 2 | Montana | $9 (with vehicle registration) | 69 | $0.13 |
| 3 | Washington | $45 | 182 | $0.25 |
| 4 | Minnesota | $35 | 132 | $0.27 |
| 5 | Idaho | $10 | 36 | $0.28 |
| 6 | Florida | $60 | 209 | $0.29 |
| 7 | Oregon | $60 (resident) | 205 | $0.29 |
| 8 | New York | $80 | 216 | $0.37 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | $28 | 69 | $0.41 |
| 10 | Massachusetts | $60 | 140 | $0.43 |
State-by-state quirks worth knowing
Missouri funds its parks with a sales tax — and entry is free
Roughly 75% of the Missouri state park budget comes from a dedicated one-tenth-of-one-percent parks sales tax, approved by voters. The result: no entrance fees anywhere in the system.
Georgia and Delaware lend annual passes through public libraries
In both states, anyone with a library card can borrow a park pass for free — Georgia’s ParkPass and Delaware’s annual pass are available at local library branches.
Michigan, Montana, Colorado, Connecticut and Idaho collect via vehicle registration
Instead of gate fees, these states attach a small parks fee to vehicle registration: Michigan’s $15 Recreation Passport, Montana’s $9 fee, Colorado’s $29 Keep Colorado Wild Pass, Connecticut’s Passport to the Parks and Idaho’s $10 Parks Passport.
New Mexico is free for residents half the year
New Mexico waives day-use fees for residents from October through April — the annual pass mainly pays off for the summer season.
Washington’s Discover Pass covers far more than state parks
The $45 Discover Pass also unlocks Department of Natural Resources and Fish & Wildlife lands — roughly 3 million additional acres beyond the 182 state park sites.
Methodology
Base data: 2,500+ individual park fee records from the America’s State Parks database (4,500+ park profiles), normalized and aggregated by state. Every headline figure — day-use fees, annual pass names and prices — was then verified against the official state park agency website of each of the 50 states in July 2026; the source agency is linked per row in the table above. Where agencies publish ranges (“varies by park”), we show the published range. Out-of-state surcharges, senior discounts and special passes are noted but not used for rankings. Park counts are state-managed parks and public lands listed in our directory.
Use this data
The full dataset is free to use with attribution: “America’s State Parks, State Park Fees Study 2026, americasstateparks.org”. Media inquiries and interview requests: reach us via the contact page — we respond to press requests within one business day.
