Senior discounts are one of the best perks of growing old. Typically, this special pricing begins at 55 and above. It starts with reduced movie tickets, early bird specials, and fitness memberships. It continues as you get older with discounts on technology, food, and insurance, to name just a few. The age requirement, discount amount, and eligibility criteria can vary widely from business to business. Discounted travel for seniors is one benefit that is near and dear to my heart. And one of the best deals for seniors in America is the Senior Lifetime National Park Pass.
America the Beautiful – The National Park and Federal Recreational Lands Pass
I have anxiously been awaiting my 62nd birthday for just this reason. The pass is available to individuals who are 62 and older and it provides access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites, including national parks, national wildlife refuges, and national forests. You must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to qualify.
Seniors are offered two types of passes: the annual pass; and the lifetime pass. As the names imply, the annual pass is good for one year and the lifetime pass never expires. The Senior pass will cover the passholder plus accompanying passengers in a vehicle or, at pay-per-person sites, the passholder plus three additional adults.
Can’t Beat the Cost
The best part of all of this is the cost. The annual pass is only $20 per year. The lifetime pass is a mere $80! For a LIFETIME pass!! But if you are unsure of the commitment, you can buy the annual pass and apply the cost of the annual pass to the lifetime pass at a later date. Four annual passes can be exchanged for a lifetime pass at no additional cost. You can order your passes online with an additional processing fee ($10) or purchase your pass in-person at a federal recreation site for no additional fee. Within the federal recreation sites, the pass opens the door to over 400 national park sites spanning 84 million acres.
Growing up in California, visiting Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Point Reyes and Lassen were regular events. Our trips were multi-generational with aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents all camping for a week or weekend trip. Our out-of-state family vacations were often, if not always, centered around a national park or historic site. Memories of these trips are still there all these years later. Who can forget watching a black bear family sit at our picnic table in Yellowstone eating our lunch while we huddled in our Volkswagen beetle! I was probably only 5 or 6 at the time but it is a story that was oft repeated in family lore.
America’s Best Idea
In my opinion, national parks and sites within the system should be on every American’s bucket list! Writer and historian Wallace Stegner called the national parks “the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” As the National Park Foundation says, the preservation of our most magnificent and meaningful places for the purpose of public appreciation and recreation is a uniquely American idea.
Watch the Ken Burns documentary series, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, for inspiration. Use the National Park Service trip planning guide to organize your next adventure! Then purchase one of the best deals for seniors in America — the Senior Lifetime National Park Pass.
Note: If you are a military veteran or gold star family, the National Park Service offers a FREE lifetime pass.
