The Offer
- National Park Service is offering a free lifetime pass for all Gold Star Families and US Military Veterans (current military members receive an annual pass for free)
The Fine Print
- Offer valid for all Gold Star Families and US Military Veterans
- The Gold Star Family Voucher will gain you access/entrance for the National Park Service, US. Fish and Wildlife Service, and standard amenity recreation fees for Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Forest Services sites and fees will be waived
- Veterans and Gold Star Families will receive free lifetime access
- Holder of voucher must present a valid photo ID/other verification upon request
- Offer/voucher valid through November 30, 2023 or while offer last
Our Verdict
This waives entry fees, but you still need to pay other fees (e.g camping). Previously this was just available as an annual pass and actually getting the physical pass was difficult as they would often be out of stock. Hopefully this lifetime pass fixes those issues. If you don’t want to deal with getting one at the actual park, you can do it online but there is a $10 processing fee (this should really be waived as well).
anyone get their pass in the mail yet? i ordered 1.5 week ago…
Great benefit, though this is one of the few areas I have no problem giving money to the government.
You will still have to pay for parking and select fees like camp site. There’s reciprocity with many state parks (and even some Canadian), but not all. Also, if you buy it online the invoice is a good government-issued proof of address, if you’re moving and haven’t gotten utility bills yet.
All you have to do is show your veteran ID or drivers license showing veteran status upon entering a national park and they will issue you your pass right then and there. When I did this last year the pass that was issued was good for one year.
RT VEGAS, would same happen for Access Pass?
https://store.usgs.gov/access-pass
I bought my Golden Age Passport a long time ago, at a cost of $10, good for life, now costs $80 for newbies. Same benefits, veteran status not required. Admission only, camping fees extra, but now that park admissions have climbed sky high, that $10 was quite a bargain.
I wasn’t able to add the Lifetime Pass in the USGS online store using Safari as a browser. Worked fine in Chrome. charged me $10 in fees to mail the Military Lifetime Pass to me. thanks for sharing!
Did you have to show any proof of service? When I added it to the cart it said something about being a kit.
You have to input your discharge date (and I think birthday?) during checkout, which I believe will bounce off SheerID to determine whether you qualify or not.
agreed. I input my birthday and discharge date and received an email from SheerID that I was verified to complete the order at the USGS store.
Churnable?
For real though, Thank You Veterans and those who have lost someone so dear.
Yes, nice of them to remember Gold Star families. God bless those families.