These tourists must pay extra to visit national parks following Trump’s fee increase
Visiting Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon will become more expensive for certain visitors, with the U.S. standing to make $90 million a year.
International visitors to the United States will have to pay more to visit the country’s national parks following an executive order signed by the Trump administration. All national parks in the U.S. are managed by the National Park Service (NPS), a government agency.
NPS had previously held off on a general price hike for the most popular parks proposed by Trump after he took office for the first time in 2017. Now, foreign tourists will be asked to put their hands deeper into their pockets to visit the likes of Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon National Parks. There will, however, be no such measures for domestic visitors.
“To fund improvements and enhanced experiences across the park system, I’ve just signed an executive order to raise entrance fees for foreign tourists while keeping prices low for Americans,” Trump said at a rally in Iowa. “The national parks will be about America first.”
Trump: "I just signed an executive order to raise entrance fees while keeping fees for Americans. The National Parks will be about America first." pic.twitter.com/JxKmXVRbUS
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 4, 2025
How much will entrance fees cost? When does it begin?
The Department of the Interior estimated in its budget for 2026 that increasing entrance fees for overseas visitors would generate over $90 million. However, there has been no information about how much entrance to national parks will now cost non-residents, or when the price increase will come into effect.
Entrance fees vary from national park to national park, with some not charging anything at all. Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, three of the most popular sites, currently charge entrance fees of $20 per person or $35 per vehicle. Under the new order, that would remain in place for Americans, but increase for non-Americans.
Diversity and inclusion memorandum revoked
The order signed by Trump also revokes a 2017 memorandum signed by President Obama which promoted diversity and inclusion on federally managed public lands. One of the principal objectives was to increase the diversity of the workforce on such lands, which the Trump administration has been attempting to limit across the board.
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