$82 per trip to Mt Rainier!!!! WTF !!!

Rant /on the ledge:

$82 per fucking trip, seriously!!!  I've been out of the area since 2019, but don't remember any fee.  Apparently it was $65 annual in 2024-2025, and $43 annual from 2015-2023.  But $82 PER TRIP is out of control.  Fucking serious!?  

(Plus $12 per night, plus access through the gate/entrance...)

Rant over.  Now I need to look for my lower jaw.   

I'm pretty sure I just bought an America the beautiful annual for $90. You just have to scrape the dickheads face off it...

Dave Schultzwrote:

Rant /on the ledge:

$82 per fucking trip, seriously!!!  I've been out of the area since 2019, but don't remember any fee.  Apparently it was $65 annual in 2024-2025, and $43 annual from 2015-2023.  But $82 PER TRIP is out of control.  Fucking serious!?  

(Plus $12 per night, plus access through the gate/entrance...)

Rant over.  Now I need to look for my lower jaw.   

rec.gov.... it's actually all owned by Carlyle Group, Welcome to Nature Inc.

Asking an AI about this:

For two climbers sharing a vehicle and doing two nights:

• Climbing fees: 2 × $82 = $164
• Reservation: $6
• Vehicle entrance: $30
• Total = $200

It was basically saying the wilderness cost is required too even if you are not camping. 

No work around by having an annual pass.

Not cool.

^ there’s no such thing as wilderness fee. There’s park entry (covered by America the beautiful pass if you have it), overnight camping fee (12 per person per night plus flat fee of 6 goes to rec.gov ), and climber recovery fee to climb above 10kft. 

Changing the climbing cost from per year to per trip is indeed an annoying spike. I asked the ranger about it and of course it is because the current administration cut back funding, which left almost nothing for the climbing program, so the fees had to pass on the full costs. 

Dave - agree with you wholeheartedly. It was a shock when we paid all that in June. The rangers and heli crew are absolutely amazing so at least I feel good knowing our funds are supporting a good program up there.

Psst... Don't look at gas prices, OP, you'll really get pissed.

#ThanksObama

if that’s the climbing fee, it’s a one time fee. You’ll just have to summit twice and it’ll only be $41 a trip. Much more palatable 

Mike-Mayhemwrote:

if that’s the climbing fee, it’s a one time fee. You’ll just have to summit twice and it’ll only be $41 a trip. Much more palatable 

Nope, they just changed it this year to be per trip

saign charlesteinwrote:

I'm pretty sure I just bought an America the beautiful annual for $90. You just have to scrape the dickheads face off it...

That gets you through the park gates, which is not what this thread is about at all.

I'm much more tuned in with what's going on with USFS. It's hard to imagine agency funding doesn't play sole in fee rates. But I wonder how much of a role funding has in this change. CRS has NPS funding overall down 16% in the last decade, inflation adjusted. I'm pretty sure the climbing fee goes 100% into the climbing program to pay for airlifting poop, staffing the ranger huts, rescue operations, etc. But I don't know how much of this program is funded through fees versus appropriations.

Worth looking at what accounts in the NPS budget have changed the most. The maintenance budget is down from like $300 million on average in the 2010s to $130M last year and $66M this year, so down well over 50% last year and then 50% again this year. Could be that flying poop off the mountain was being paid for by some of that ~$230M cut. Not to mention the cost of aviation fuel these days. So much winning.

https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R42757/R42757.47.pdf

Mitch Lwrote:

Nope, they just changed it this year to be per trip

I guess I will no longer be pulling permits to climb ranier in a day lol Not that I even did every time considering they don’t allow you to register online. Who can possible get a permit to climb on a Saturday when your off work at 5 on Friday.. it’s stupid