Great Falls Park to Increase Entrance Fees Starting June 1

Entrance fees at Great Falls Park will increase beginning June 1.

A three-day vehicle pass, currently $5, will cost you $10 starting June 1. The motorcycle pass will also double, from $5 to $10.

A pedestrian pass will increase from $3 to $5. The annual park pass will increase from $20 to $30.

“Fees are critical to caring for the park,” Alexcy Romero, George Washington Memorial Parkway superintendent says in a news release going out Friday.

“Eighty percent of fees collected stay right here in the park and are put to work improving facilities and services important to visitors,” she said.

The park was in the news recently after the Obama family visited on a recent Sunday.

Entrance fees support a wide range of projects that improve the park and visitor experiences, NPS points out.

Recent fee projects include installing new museum exhibits, producing a film about George Washington’s vision for the Patowmack Canal, improving handicap access to park facilities, remodeling and updating the visitor center restrooms at Great Falls Park, refurbishing scenic overlooks and installing trail direction signs and interpretive exhibits. Additional revenue from this fee increase will go towards repairing and maintaining park trails, and printing park brochures and Junior Ranger booklets.

In the fall of 2014, the National Park Service conducted a nationwide review of entrance fees. To solicit public input, Great Falls Park launched a civic engagement campaign in December 2014.

During the public comment period, the park received 65 formal comments. While the majority of comments supported an increase, many people felt that the original proposal for the vehicle pass was too much. To respond to public comments, the park modified the original proposal of vehicle entrance fee.