Yosemite will charge $100 additional fee to nonresidents in 2026 to fund maintenance
Starting next year, a new “American First” entrance fee structure will charge nonresidents additional fees to visit the nation’s 11 most popular national park, including Yosemite National Park.
The America the Beautiful annual pass will cost $80 for U.S. residents and $250 for nonresidents beginning Jan. 1, 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Interior. Nonresidents without an annual pass will pay a $100 per-person fee to enter the most visited parks including Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon, in addition to the standard entrance fee.
The new fee policies allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents to enjoy affordable pricing, while the higher rates for nonresidents will help to support the care and maintenance of the parks, according to the Department of Interior.
“President Trump’s leadership always puts American families first,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in the statement. “These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations.”
The 11 most visited national parks are: Acadia National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Everglades National Park, Glacier National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Parks, and Zion National Park.
The Department of Interior said in a statement that the nonresident surcharge is a small fraction of international tourists’ total trip costs, such as airfare, lodging, and transport, for foreign tourists. It did not directly respond to The Bee’s inquiry about the classification of nonresidents.
As of fiscal year 2024, approximately 3.6 million nonimmigrants holding temporary visas reside in the United States, according to the Office of Homeland Security. The vast majority are temporary workers or international students, who are eligible to apply for driver’s licenses and taxpayer identification numbers.
The Department of Interior also did not specify whether each visitor entering a national park must present identification verifying their citizenship. Current rules only require one national park pass holder to present a government-issued ID to gain entry for all passengers in their vehicle.
“For residency-restricted passes, that ID must be U.S. government-issued. Individuals 16 and older who do not have the appropriate ID will be asked to upgrade to the nonresident annual pass. Visitors will confirm their residency by providing a ZIP code when purchasing a pass online and must present a U.S. government-issued photo ID when using it (such as a passport),” the Department of Interior said in an emailed reply.
The new fee structure could generate an estimated extra revenue of $528 million for national parks, according to the Property and Environment Research Center, which proposed to place a $40 surcharge to foreign visitors in a 2023 report.
PERC estimated there were 14 million international visitors among the 325.5 million total visitors to national parks in 2023.
Due to the lack of funding, the National Park Service estimates that the park system has $22 billion of needs for long overdue maintenance and repairs.
Data from the National Park Service show that Yosemite received over 4 million visitors in 2024. The visitation increased 7% in 2025 through August compared to the same period last year and is on track for one of the busiest years on record, according to a statement from Yosemite.
This story was originally published November 26, 2025 at 11:45 AM.
