Rocky Mountain National Park proposes fee hike

Rocky Mountain National Park proposes to increase to the cost of visitors' entrance passes and camping fees.

The popular park is proposing to add a $20 single-day pass to its existing option of entrance passes. Today, most visitors' least-expensive option is to buy a $20 pass that's valid for seven consecutive days.

Under the proposal, the park would add the $20 pass good for one day and hike the cost of a seven-day pass to $30. The park is also proposing the annual park pass increase from $40 to $50, and eventually to $60 by 2017.

Campground fees would increase from $20 per night to $26 each night. Proposed entrance fee increases could go into effect sometime in 2015 with campground fees increasing in 2016.

Park staff are seeking feedback about the proposed fee schedule. Email comments to ROMO_Information@nps.gov by Dec. 1. Feedback will help determine when the timing of when the fee increases are implemented, said park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson.

Current park entrance fees have been in effect for the past nine years, thought its annual pass increased to $40 in 2009.

Vaughn Baker, the park's superintendent, said in a press release a "sizable portion" of the park's visitation is one day in length.

While parks receive federal funding for operations costs, the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act allows national parks to collect entrance and amenity fees. The law allows parks to retain 80 percent of the fees collected to use on projects that directly benefit visitors. The remaining 20 percent is distributed throughout the National Park System.

Projects funded by fees paid at Rocky Mountain National Park include park shuttles, hazard tree mitigation and enhancements for camping, picknicking and hiking trails.

In 2012, more than 3.2 million park visitors contributed $196 million to the Northern Colorado economy and supported 2,779 jobs related to tourism, according to the park.

More than half a million people visited the park this September, a 112 percent increase from last year's visitation tally. To date, almost 3 million people have come to Rocky in 2014, a higher number of visitors than the park had seen through September 2013.

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