MOSCA – Great Sand Dunes National Park is proposing a change to its fee rates to align with the new National Park Service rate schedule. The new proposed fee schedule will increase the cost of per person entry (for visitors bicycling or walking through the Entrance Station); the annual Great Sand Dunes Pass; as well as the cost for per vehicle entry, non-commercial (family) vehicles; and an increase in fees for motorcycles. The entrance fee changes and their implementation would be as follows:

Annual Great Sand Dunes Pass—Current: $30.  2018: $40.
Per Vehicle (private, non-commercial)—Current: $15.  2018: $20.
Motorcycle—Current: $10.  2018: $15.
Per Person—Current: $7.  2018: $10.

“We are committed to keeping the park affordable but we also want to provide visitors with the best possible experience,” said Acting Park Superintendent Phil Wilson. “We use the money from park entrance fees to maintain, repair and improve our facilities, enhance essential visitor services such as events and programs, restore critical habitat for the wildlife that visitors come to see and enjoy, and to support our law enforcement rangers in their public safety duties.”  

One project that can benefit from this fee increase would be the Piñon Flats Campground and Mosca Creek Picnic Area enhancements which would include new flooring, heating systems and water distribution lines for restroom facilities.

It is important to note that a visitor to the park will only be charged one of these entrance fees—not a combination of them. Passes are valid for seven days from the date of issue, allowing visitors to enter and exit the park multiple times during that seven-day period by showing their paid receipt.  

Of the 417 units in the National Park System, 118 parks currently collect fees. The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) is the legislation under which Great Sand Dunes and the other 118 park units currently collects entrance and campground fees.

Currently, national parks like Great Sand Dunes retain 80 percent of the entrance fees collected for use on projects that directly benefit visitors. The remaining 20 percent is distributed to other park units throughout the National Park System.  

Since the beginning of FLREA and its predecessor program, Fee Demo, Great Sand Dunes has been able to devote more than $7 million to enhance visitor services at the park, funding facility repair and maintenance, visitor amenities, and visitor programs and services.  

The public is encouraged to comment about Great Sand Dunes’ proposed new entrance fees. That feedback helps park managers determine the appropriateness of entrance fees.

Submit comments electronically via the National Park Service's Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website.

Comments will also be accepted in writing (hand-delivery, by mail, or fax).  To submit written comments, mail or hand-deliver comments to Chief of Administration & Fees, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, Attn: Proposal to Increase Fees, 11500 State Hwy 150, Mosca 81146. In addition, faxed comments will be accepted at (719) 378-6310.

Comments submitted by e-mail and anonymous comments will not be accepted.  Bulk comments in any format submitted on behalf of others will not be accepted. All public comments must be received by September 17.

Before including address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in comments, be aware that the entire comment - including personal identifying information - may be made publicly available at any time.  While folks can ask the National Park Service in their comments to withhold their personal identifying information from public review, NPS cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.

For more information, visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/grsa or call Public Information Officer Katherine Faz at 719-378-6341.