America the Beautiful (Pass)
My Jeep Wrangler in Big Bend National Park
I have an obsession with National Parks and road trips. It is a problem but a good one. When you travel across the country and visit as many National Parks and monuments as I do, you look for ways to cut costs. This obsession has led me to make one of the most valuable purchases of my life — National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass. AKA The America the Beautiful pass.
This pass costs just $80 and will gain you admission to any national park that charges an entrance fee. Most of the US National Parks charge a fee between $25 and $35, which means the card would pay for itself within three to four visits of any national park. If you have never been to a national park or traveled past one, you might think to yourself “how could I possibly get my value when I have never been to a single park?”
Honestly, I would not blame you if you couldn’t see the value in this annual pass, especially if you have not done much travel. So allow me to explain.
Not only does this pass admit you to any of the US National Parks but it can also be used to gain access to many other National Park Service areas. These include many national monuments, national recreational areas, preserves and historic parks. Add in some other protected areas which fall under the purview of agencies such as the Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers and you quickly see how fees could rack up. But let’s stick to national parks for now…
Many national parks are bunched together, making a multi-park visit easy to do. I have personally done a few of these trips in which I visit three to four trips in a single road trip. Some are extremely easy to do within a one week period or even within a couple of days.
The Moab Parks ($60)
Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park, Moab, Utah
The town of Moab, Utah has two parks nestled closely together: Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Both parks are absolutely stunning and unbelievably close to each other, depending on which of the Canyonlands entrances you decide to visit. The Island in the Sky entrance of Canyonlands is about 30 minutes from the entrance to Arches making a trip to both parks quite easy to pull off. If you have more than a few days, I highly recommend going to the other districts of Canyonlands. However, if you only have a couple days, these two can be visited quite easily and would cost you $60 without the America the Beautiful Pass.
Overlooking the Canyon from the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah
Southern Utah Parks ($85)
If you travel a little further south, you will find three additional national parks in Utah — Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park. Each of these parks are great in their own way (I’m partial to one in particular) but they are even better when you can visit all three. I recommend taking your time with these parks, especially Zion, because they aren’t extremely close to each other. Zion is a pretty big park and highly trafficked so you’ll likely want to spend a few days there as well. But if you have the time, these three can be traveled to in a single trip. The National Park Pass is pretty much a must-have if you plan on doing this trip.
Caught this couple looking up at the rock formations in Capitol Reef National Park, Fruita, Utah.
Sunset overlook in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
OH and bonus points if you hit up some of the national monuments in the areas in-between as well. Cedar Breaks National Monument is outstanding and I have heard great things about Escalante National Monument as well. The latter is free to visit while the former does have a fee which is covered using the pass.
Texas Two-Step ($40-$55)
Pulliam Peak in Big Bend National Park, Texas
This one took me by surprise but let me make a confession. The Texas two-step is a fun name but you can actually do three national parks and visit another country on a single visit. I’ve personally did a variation of this trip in the spring of 2021 when I visited Big Bend National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the west side of Texas. Big Bend is hug and borders the nation of Mexico. During non-COVID times, you can actually take a quick boat road across the Rio Grande and visit a small Mexican town. Unfortunately, I did not get to participate in that adventure but I did head up to the border of Texas and New Mexico to visit Guadalupe Mountain. The trip will take you a full day by car but is worth it.
El Capitan Peak in Guadalupe Mountains National Park
The bonus of this trip is that Guadalupe Mountain National Park is only a little less than an hour from Carlsbad Cavern National Park, right over the border of New Mexico. I took it a little further and drove about three hours west from there and visited White Sands National Park but for now, let’s just keep it at two.
Colorado ($105)
Finally, one of the best ways to get full value out of your America the Beautiful pass is to visit all the parks in Colorado. I would break this one down but the parks are spaced out quite a bit. And if you’ve read anything I’ve written, you know I will always suggest just spending a few weeks in the state. Colorado is my favorite state in the country and a road trip across that state requires visiting the national parks spread throughout it. There are four in total — Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, Rocky Mountain National Park, Mesa Verde National Park and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Each of these parks are great in their own way and have very different climates, ranging from deserts to sand dunes to mountains. A single trip more than pays for the price of the card.
Conclusion
The America the Beautiful Pass is the best $80 I have ever spent. I’ve only listed a couple of trips where I have taken advantage of the card but there are plenty of others. I have even used the card in lieu of paying parking fees at certain areas overseen by the US Forest Service. It has enabled me to take advantage of our federal lands without having the break my pockets, which is invaluable during a long road trip. I cannot recommend it enough for anyone who is looking to take a long road trip or plans to visit a few parks over the next year.
