Great Falls Park Fee To Increase In 2020

MCLEAN, VA — Visitors to the National Park Service's Great Falls Park will see higher entrance fees beginning Jan. 1, 2020. This increase comes after a decision in 2018 to phase in fee increases at several National Parks with entrance fees across the U.S.

The current $15 fee per vehicle will increase to $20. The $7-per-person admission will rise to $10. The motorcycle fee will change from $10 to $15 and the annual pass from $30 to $35.

NPS says the fee increases will go toward infrastructure needs and visitor experience improvements. At least 80 percent will be retained at the C&O Canal and the George Washington Memorial Parkway areas.

"Entrance fees collected are returned directly to the parks and help the National Park Service address deferred maintenance needs to improve the visitor experience,” C&O Canal Acting Superintendent John Noel said in a statement. "Both C&O Canal and Great Falls Park, a site within George Washington Memorial Parkway, use fee money to directly benefit visitors such as offering educational programs, taking care of trails and buildings and being good stewards of the parks’ nature and history."

In the past, entrance fees have went toward milling and paving of the northern section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, as well as rehabilitation of canals at Great Falls Park and C&O Canal.

There are a number of fee-free days when admission won't be charged at Great Falls Park. These dates for 2020 are:

● Monday, Jan. 20: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
● Saturday, April 18: First Day of National Park Week/National Junior Ranger Day
● Tuesday, Aug. 25: National Park Service Birthday
● Saturday, Sept. 26: National Public Lands Day
● Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day