Rocky Mountain National Park is proposing a change in its current camping fees at four campgrounds beginning next year, in 2025.
The park is proposing a 10-dollar increase to overnight fees at four reservation campgrounds including Moraine Park, Glacier Basin, Aspenglen and Timber Creek Campgrounds. This proposed increase in summer fees would be from $35 to $45 per night. There is also a proposed additional increase of $10 for the new electrical sites that are being constructed at the Moraine Park Campground. The proposed fee for these forty-nine electrical sites is $55 per night.
There are no fee changes to group sites, the Longs Peak Campground which is a first come, first-served summer campground with no water available, or winter rates.
These proposed campground fee increases are based on comparable fees for similar services in nearby campgrounds.
The proposed fee increases are necessary for Rocky Mountain National Park to improve and maintain high-quality visitor services. While basic park operations are funded by direct appropriations from Congress, the recreation use fees collected by the park are used to support new projects and the ongoing maintenance of park facilities that directly enhance the visitor experience.
The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) is the legislation that allows the park to collect entrance and amenity fees. This law allows parks like Rocky Mountain National Park to retain 80 percent of the fees collected in park for use on projects that directly enhance the experience of park visitors. The remaining 20 percent of all collected fees is distributed for use throughout the National Park System.
Some of the projects funded through the collection of entrance station and campground fees at Rocky Mountain National Park include:
* Hazard Tree Mitigation: The park is among many areas along the Rocky Mountains where trees have been dying from a beetle epidemic. Recreation fee monies have funded extensive mitigation of hazard trees in or near developed areas and other popular park facilities, such as campgrounds, parking lots, road corridors, housing areas and visitor centers.
* Campground Improvements: The park continues to use recreation fee monies to replace tent pad log linings, fire rings, maintain walking paths and repair and replace picnic tables.
* Hiking Trail Repairs and Improvements: Many hiking trail repair projects have been funded by recreation fee monies, such as repairing washed out sections of trail, the installation of bridges, and the installation of vault toilets at heavily used trailheads.
* Bear Management: Park entrance and campground fees help keep bears wild at Rocky Mountain National Park. Thanks in part to fee dollars collected over the past 20 years, 100% of the park’s garbage cans, recycling bins, and dumpsters are now bear-resistant. The park has also gone from zero food storage lockers to 352. Your recreation fees also help support visitor education programs focused on black bears.
Public engagement is an important part of the park’s planning process. Rocky Mountain National Park is accepting public comments on the proposed fee increases. Please submit all comments here.
Comments may also be submitted via mail to:
Rocky Mountain National Park
Office of the Superintendent
1000 US Hwy 36
Estes Park, CO 80517
Please be advised, before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. Although you can ask in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee we will be able to do so.
All public comments on the proposed fee increases will be accepted through May 23, 2024.
Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
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