Re[2]: [at-l] OT! Cost to Enter National Parks may go up...

[jbryankramer@xxxxxxx (J Bryan Kramer)]

The solution to this is simple, hikers can buy an annual passport just like
drivers. It lets them enter any NP at no additional cost. But I doubt that
you'll see any attempt to charge people hiking thru a park, these fees are
aimed at cars and the occasional biker who passes thru a main gate.

> If more fee gates are added, hikers hitch hiking for resupply
> might be impacted,
> somewhat. However, we may also see the system that is used at
> some national
> forest campgrounds in which you have to deposit a fee in a locked
> container,
> when you pick up a camping permit.

They do out west, but I haven't seen it in the east.

>
> Theoretically, at least, rangers spot check camping sites and
> arrest those who
> haven't paid. It would be easy to add that system to the hiker
> permit system in
> the Smokies and Shenandoah. The possibility of this is one of the
> few ways fees
> could impact thru hikers, since hikers are relatively few and
> enter parks at
> other than road crossings. Shhh. Don't mention this to
> Commissioner Norton.
>