Entrance fees to Acadia National Park will rise an average of $5 this year.
Park administrators said the increases were necessary to pay for needed infrastructure and maintenance at the 50,000-acre park near Bar Harbor.
Beginning June 1, the park entrance fee will be $30 per vehicle (up from $25), or $25 per motorcycle (up from $20), for a one-week pass. An Acadia Annual Park Pass will cost $55, a $5 increase, valid for one year from date of purchase. Per person or per bicycle fees will rise to $15 from the current fee of $12.
“Park entrance fees directly support the services you receive when you visit Acadia,” said Deputy Superintendent Michael Madell in a statement announcing the increases. “Every time you step aboard the Island Explorer, use the restrooms, drive on the Park Loop Road, and enjoy the carriage roads, you are receiving a direct benefit from paying your entrance fees.”
Acadia entrance fees have not increased since 1987. About 80 percent of the fees collected at Acadia are used to maintain the park; the rest goes into a fund to support other national parks.
There had been concerns that fees at Acadia could more than double to pay for upgrades.
Money from the increased fees will be used, for example, to rehabilitate the Hulls Cove Visitor Center at Acadia, remove trees blocking visitor access from winter storms, restripe park roads and parking spaces, and replace electric power lines in the Schoodic area of the park.
The National Park Service decided last October to increase fees at 17 national parks where aging infrastructure and increased visitation affected park roads, bridges, buildings, campgrounds, water systems, bathrooms and other facilities. Maintenance deferred on these facilities amounts to an $11.6 billion nationwide backlog.
The park service estimates that once fully implemented, the new fee structure will increase annual entrance fee revenue by about $60 million.
National parks have experienced record-breaking visitation, with more than 1.5 billion visitors in the last five years.
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