Grand Teton National Park entrance fee and passes.

Paying at a cashless park.

No cash at the gate. As of May 1, 2026, Grand Teton accepts only electronic payment for entrance fees and passes, backcountry and boat permits, and winter camping: debit and credit cards, tap to pay, and mobile wallets. Apple Pay and other contactless payments work at the entrance stations. Personal and cashier's checks are not accepted. Passes are sold at the entrances and at the permits desks in the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center and the Colter Bay Visitor Center.

Paying cash anyway. NPS has agreements with partners who may sell the $35 vehicle, $30 motorcycle, and $20 per-person passes, the $100 nonresident fee, and the $80 and $250 America the Beautiful annual passes for cash or card. Inside the park, that's the Grand Teton Association bookstores at the Craig Thomas Discovery, Jenny Lake, and Colter Bay visitor centers and its mobile van (most often at Mormon Row), Dornans in Moose, and Bear Aware at Jackson Hole Airport. On the way from Jackson, it's the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, Teton Backcountry Rentals, and Teton Village Sports at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. For other passes, ask a ranger at the Craig Thomas or Colter Bay permits desk. We don't track which businesses are selling passes this week, so check the NPS entrance fee FAQ before you count on one.

Buy ahead. Digital $35 vehicle, $30 motorcycle, and $20 per-person passes, all valid 7 days, are sold on Recreation.gov, and you can show the digital pass at the entrance station. A digital America the Beautiful pass can be used as soon as you buy it. A physical pass ordered online from the USGS store can take up to three weeks, and NPS won't accept the order receipt in place of the pass. The park is open 24 hours a day; if no one is at the entrance station when you arrive, NPS says you can drive through and pay online.

Bring ID. Entering with a pass requires a driver's license or other photo ID. Each America the Beautiful pass belongs to one person, who has to be there whenever it's used. For the 4th grade pass the child is the holder, and no photo ID is needed. America the Beautiful passes are non-refundable, non-transferable, and can't be replaced if lost or stolen.

Tours and school groups. Commercial tours pay by seats, not riders: $25 plus $20 a person in a sedan seating 1 to 6, $125 for a van seating 7 to 15, $200 for a mini-bus seating 16 to 25, and $300 for a motor coach seating 26 or more. The pass is good for seven days for the same passenger group, and non-U.S. residents on commercial, CUA, or concessioner tours still owe the $100 fee. Schools and other bona fide educational institutions can request an educational fee waiver for free entry, with approval needed before the visit.

The $100 nonresident fee.

Each non-U.S. resident 16 and older pays a $100 nonresident fee at Grand Teton on top of the standard entrance fee, unless they come in on an annual or America the Beautiful pass. For two non-U.S. adults in a rental car, that's $35 plus $200, or $235. For four, it's $435. The $250 non-resident America the Beautiful pass covers the entire vehicle, or two motorcycles, or the holder plus three more adults where fees are charged per person. Three adults in one car already pay $335 at the gate, so the pass wins at Grand Teton alone.

Adding Yellowstone doubles it. Yellowstone also charges the $100 nonresident fee and its own $35 vehicle fee. Two non-U.S. adults driving both parks pay $470 at the gates, and even one pays $270. You don't need two $250 passes: one covers entrance and nonresident fees at both parks, and every other national park, for a year.

If anyone in the car is a U.S. citizen or resident, their pass can do the same job for everyone. Per the NPS nonresident fee page, every valid America the Beautiful pass and park-specific annual pass covers entrance and nonresident fees for the holder and passengers in a private vehicle or on two motorcycles. That includes the $70 Grand Teton Annual Pass (at Grand Teton only), a $20 senior pass, and the free Access, military, and 4th grade passes. NPS checks residency by photo ID when a pass is used, and someone who isn't eligible for the resident pass is asked to upgrade to the $250 one. Acceptable proof includes a U.S. passport, a state or territory driver's license or state ID, or a green card.

The eleven parks that charge the $100 fee are Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion, per the NPS entrance fee prices page. Fee-free days don't help: from 2026 they're for U.S. citizens and residents only, and nonresidents pay the regular entrance fee and the nonresident fee.

Free entrance days in 2026.

NPS lists eight fee-free dates for 2026, ten days in all: February 16, May 25, June 14, July 3 to 5, August 25, September 17, October 27, and November 11. Entrance is free for U.S. citizens and residents only. NPS notes that other fees, including reservation fees, may still apply.

July is Grand Teton's busiest month, with about 23,600 recreation visits a day on average over the past five years. August runs about 21,700 a day and June about 21,100, so June 14, the July 3 to 5 weekend, and August 25, all past for 2026, were the crowded free days. Of the last three, September 17 falls in a month averaging about 18,800 a day, October 27 about 8,000, and November 11, the quietest, about 1,700. February 16 was the other quiet one, at about 2,000. In winter the main highways are plowed from Jackson to Flagg Ranch, but other park roads close; see Grand Teton road closures.

Permits, boats, and fishing.

No entry reservation. NPS says vehicle reservations are not needed to enter. All lodging and campgrounds in the park are reservable and can fill months ahead; see Grand Teton camping.

Backcountry camping. Overnight backpacking needs a permit: $20 per permit (non-refundable) plus $7 per person per night (refundable until five days before the start date). Fees are paid by card on Recreation.gov, walk-up backcountry permits can't be paid in cash, and no discounts or discount passes apply. The permit doesn't include the entrance fee. Three people on a two-night trip pay $20 plus $42, or $62. Details are on the NPS backcountry camping page.

Boats. Every watercraft, motorized or not, needs a Grand Teton boat permit, and privately owned vessels register each year: $75 for motorized craft and $25 for non-motorized craft such as canoes, kayaks, drift boats, and SUPs. Watercraft on Wyoming waters also need a Wyoming Aquatic Invasive Species decal, a separate state purchase: $10 motorized or $5 non-motorized for Wyoming residents, and $30 or $15 for non-residents. Non-motorized inflatables 10 feet or shorter, paddleboards, and water toys are exempt from the decal but still stop at the park's AIS inspection stations, and every boat entering the park must stop for inspection. A visiting kayaker pays $25 plus $15, or $40, on top of the entrance fee. Details are on the NPS boating page.

Fishing. The park doesn't sell a fishing permit. Fishing follows Wyoming law, and a Wyoming fishing license is required. It's sold in the park at Flagg Ranch, Colter Bay Marina, and Signal Mountain Lodge, or online. A 12-month license is $27 for Wyoming residents and $102 for nonresidents, per the Wyoming Game and Fish fee list. An America the Beautiful pass doesn't cover it.

Other permits. Weddings, commitment ceremonies, and many other special uses of the park need permits too.

Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and which pass.

NPS says each park charges its own entrance fee, and that traveling through Yellowstone's South Entrance, including any trip to Jackson, takes you through Grand Teton. Yellowstone's vehicle pass is also $35 for seven days, so one car doing both parks pays $70 at the gates, just under the $80 America the Beautiful pass that covers both. Add a second trip in the year or a third fee park and the $80 pass saves money. The $70 Grand Teton Annual Pass only pays off if you come back to Grand Teton on a separate trip, since two $35 passes cost the same. Yellowstone's passes are on our Yellowstone fees page. Grand Teton's fees don't change by season, so pick your dates on the best time to visit Grand Teton page and budget the pass separately.

For non-U.S. residents, the two-park trip settles it. One adult pays $135 at each gate, $270 in all, so the $250 non-resident pass already wins for a solo traveler, and by a lot for a car of three or four. The calculator above runs your own numbers.

Common questions.

Do you need to pay to enter Grand Teton?

Yes. NPS requires an entrance fee: $35 per private vehicle for seven days, $30 for up to two motorcycles, or $20 per person 16 and older on foot, bike, or skis. Vehicle reservations are not needed, and the park is cashless.

Can you just drive through Grand Teton National Park?

You can drive the highway through the park without a pass. NPS says there are no fees to access the highway, so the Moose Entrance, on the Teton Park Road, is one of the first places you're asked to pay. NPS also says visitors traveling to or from Yellowstone through Grand Teton must pay a separate entrance fee. The park is open 24 hours a day, and if no one is at the entrance station when you arrive, NPS says you can drive through and pay online.

Do you need separate passes for Yellowstone and Grand Teton?

Yes, unless you have an America the Beautiful pass. Each park charges its own entrance fee, $35 per vehicle at both, and the $70 Grand Teton Annual Pass works only at Grand Teton. The $80 America the Beautiful pass, or the $250 non-resident version, covers both parks.

Which 11 national parks charge a $100 non-resident fee?

Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion. The fee applies to each non-U.S. resident 16 and older unless a valid annual or America the Beautiful pass admits them.

Where these facts come from

Entrance, annual, America the Beautiful, and commercial prices, the educational waiver, where passes are sold, the photo ID rule, the Yellowstone separate-fee rule, the no-reservation rule, permit requirements, and the 2026 fee-free dates come from the NPS Grand Teton fees page. The cashless date, payment types, cash partners, digital passes, and pass-holder rules come from the NPS Grand Teton entrance fee FAQ; paying online at an unstaffed entrance and the fee-free highway from the NPS Moose Entrance Station page; winter highways from the NPS roads page; Yellowstone's $35 vehicle fee and its own-fee note from the NPS Yellowstone fees page. Backcountry permit fees come from the NPS backcountry camping page; boat permit and decal fees from the NPS boating page; the fishing license rule and where to buy it from the NPS fishing page; license prices from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Nonresident fee rules, pass coverage for passengers, residency documents, and photo ID at time of use come from the NPS nonresident fee page; the eleven-park list from the NPS entrance fee prices page; the U.S.-residents-only rule for fee-free days from the NPS fee-free days page. Daily visit figures are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from NPS Visitor Use Statistics, divided by the days in the month. Calculator results are our arithmetic on the fee table. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.