Fees to camp at Mount Rainier National Park to jump for some people

Camping out at Mount Rainier National Park will soon cost larger groups more money.

The park is changing its fee structure for wilderness permits. Instead of costing $20 per trip, it will now cost $10 per person per night, according to a news release on the National Park Service website. A $6 fee for trips reserved through recreation.gov will stay the same.

Kids under the age of 15 still get in for free.

Those people seeking walk-up permits will need to pay the same new fees as those who have made advance reservations, the statement also says.

Why Mount Rainier National Park is making the change

The news release states the change in the fee structure “ensures equitability.” Going further, the agency stated that when visitors paid the flat fee previously, “smaller groups that had less impact and used fewer resources paid higher costs individually than larger groups who had a greater impact on park resources.”

“These fees directly support the experience of wilderness permit holders,” Superintendent Greg Dudgeon said in the statement. “For instance, they support the work of rangers who patrol the park’s more than 270 miles of maintained trails; manage and transport backcountry users’ food caches; clean, service, and pack out accumulated waste from backcountry toilets; and ensure compliance with permits and regulations that protect park resources and the wilderness experience.”

Wilderness permit reservation fees at Mount Rainier National Park have not changed for 26 years, the statement also noted. The recreation.gov use fee was added in 2021.

The news release stated the park issues about 7,000 wilderness and climbing permits each year.

Earlier coverage: Mount Rainier, national parks receive ‘record-setting’ $1.1 million

More on visiting the park

As the National Park Service website explains, Mount Rainier National Park is open all year, 24 hours a day. Visitation is at its peak in July and August, “when the weather is warm and dry and the wildflowers are blooming,” the website states.

Now that it’s the winter, vehicle access to Mount Rainier is only available from the Nisqually Entrance, in the southwest corner of the park on the way to Paradise, the agency site also explains. In addition, the Carbon River Entrance is open, “but the road within the park boundary is limited to foot and bicycle traffic.” Those interested in visiting the park at this time of year are encouraged to check the road status or alerts pages before trying to get to the park as road conditions are subject to change.

The agency also features different entrance passes and suggestions of which one to procure, depending on the number of times people planning on visiting Mt. Rainier or other national parks. Those planning on visiting the park once should plan on getting a standard pass. People who want to visit the park multiple times during a year should consider paying more for the annual pass. Finally, the America the Beautiful pass is for the visitors who plan on visiting more than one national park in a year, given that all parks have entrance fees.

Contributing: Aaron Granillo, KIRO Newsradio

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.