The National Park Service's most-used pass system just got a digital upgrade. Every America the Beautiful pass — annual, senior, military, access, and fourth-grade — is now available in a fully digital format through Recreation.gov, letting visitors buy and store passes on their phones and link them to a physical card if they still want one.
The rollout arrives alongside a bigger change: starting in 2026, eleven of the most-visited national parks are adding a $100 per-person surcharge for nonresidents of the United States. The list includes Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion.
Timed Entry Still Varies by Park
Timed-entry rules aren't uniform across the system. Zion requires timed entry between 9am and 2pm from 22 May through mid-October, with reservations released monthly on Recreation.gov. Yosemite, by contrast, will not require timed-entry reservations in 2026 — so travelers planning a multi-park itinerary should check each park's current rules individually rather than assuming one policy applies system-wide.
Discussion (0)