Late this month both Hovenweep and Natural Bridges national monuments in Utah will transition to a fully cashless fee system and accept only mobile or electronic payments for entrance and camping fees. Camping at both parks will transition to being managed through Recreation.gov.
Those changes take effect March 31.
In addition to accepting debit and credit cards payments in-person, visitors can purchase entrance passes in advance on Recreation.gov. Visitors purchasing from Recreation.gov will have a digital pass that can be stored on a mobile device or printed out. America the Beautiful interagency annual and lifetime passes will continue to cover the cost of entry into the park, and must be shown in conjunction with proper ID.
Through Recreation.gov, campsites at both parks may be reserved up to three months in advance. Same-day reservations will be possible if unreserved campsites are available. Reservations can be made online or by calling 1-877-444-6777.
Entrance and camping fees are an important source of revenue used to improve the visitor experience in national parks, including road and facility repairs and maintenance, trail improvements, installation of accessible exhibits, visitor and resource protection services, and more. Moving to a cashless system allows parks to be better stewards of visitor dollars by reducing the amount of time park staff spend managing cash, increasing the amount of fee revenue available to support critical projects and visitor services, improving accountability, and reducing risk, a park release said.