Growing older has its rewards if you want to get away
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, August 17, 2016
It doesn’t seem so many summers ago that, jammed with my young family in a 1983 Nissan Sentra wagon, I sat at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park thinking life was a smidgen unfair.
Why, I wondered, do lifetime-pass-carrying seniors — some of them prosperous-looking Winnebago drivers — get into national parks without paying entry fees? At the time, we were tent-camping parents of little kids.
Funny thing, though, a quarter-century somehow flew by. For all these years, I have paid federal taxes by the boatload. And while it’s no fun to admit that I’m 62, having a 1953 birthdate brings certain rewards.
I don’t take advantage of all the senior perks, the cheaper movie tickets or restaurant meals, but I’m eligible for the best deal around. I’m now the bearer of an America the Beautiful Senior Pass.
The size of a debit card, my lifetime pass cost just $10 at the Darrington Ranger Station, a facility of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Available since January 2007, the passes are sold at U.S. Forest Service offices in Darrington, Verlot and Skykomish, and at the ranger station in the REI flagship store in Seattle.
For the rest of my life, I’ll get free entry to most public lands managed by the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Reclamation. The pass waives parking fees and cuts the cost of camping on federal lands.
It doesn’t take long for the $10 senior pass to pay for itself. On a driving trip in late July, one stop was Salt Creek Falls, a nearly 300-foot waterfall near Willamette Pass in Oregon. We were there just long enough to walk to a viewing area and take pictures. Without the senior pass, parking at the Willamette National Forest site would have cost $5. With it, displayed on the dashboard, parking was free.
On vacation last week, I camped two nights at Reeder Bay Campground on Priest Lake, Idaho. Part of Idaho Panhandle National Forests, the beachfront campground is near where my daughter’s family rented a cabin. The woodsy spot where we pitched a tent, normally $20 per night, was $10 nightly with the pass.
Aleta Eng, a partnership specialist at the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest office in Everett, said that along with covering entrance and parking fees, America the Beautiful passes give people 50 percent discounts on campsites and other amenities.
The senior pass is one of several types of America the Beautiful passes. For $80 per year, an annual America the Beautiful pass is available to anyone. An Access Pass, valid for a lifetime, is free to U.S. citizens with permanent disabilities. Free annual passes are also available to U.S. military members and to all fourth-graders. There is also a free volunteer pass for those who log at least 250 service hours on federal recreation lands.
It was the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, passed by Congress in 2004, that created the America the Beautiful pass program. It replaced the Golden Eagle, Golden Age and Gold Access Passports, although those remain valid for those who have them.
Eng agrees America the Beautiful passes are a great deal, and she’s glad to spread the word about them. She also said popular Forest Service camping spots are booked early in Western Washington. Reservations may be made up to six months in advance, or a year ahead for group sites, Eng said. Weekdays are the best bet for people hoping to land a camping spot in August.
Boo-hoo, my summer vacation is over. Already, I’m planning for next year, and perhaps a return to Yellowstone. A seven-day entrance pass there will cost most folks $30, or $50 for Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. With my pass, I’ll get in free.
There isn’t much that’s beautiful about getting older. Getting a pass takes the sting out of it.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Learn more
Information about America the Beautiful passes: www.recreation.gov.
America the Beautiful Passes are available at U.S. Forest Service sites in Darrington, Verlot and Skykomish, and at the ranger station in the REI flagship store in Seattle. Forest Service sites in our region are listed at www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mbs/about-forest/offices.
