Olympic National Park entrance fee and passes.

Buying and using the pass.

Pay online, or bring a card. Olympic doesn't accept cash. To spend less time in line at an entrance station, NPS suggests paying your entrance fee online at Recreation.gov before you get there. The $55 annual pass is sold at park visitor centers and entrance stations.

Seven days, not one. The vehicle, motorcycle, and per-person passes all run for seven consecutive days, so one pass covers a week of day trips. Every visitor needs a pass, and anyone 16 or older arriving on foot or by bike needs their own.

America the Beautiful passes. A digital pass from Recreation.gov saves to your phone and works right away. A physical pass ordered from the USGS store can take up to three weeks to arrive, and the order receipt doesn't count as a pass. NPS says passholders must show valid photo ID with each pass. These passes are non-refundable and non-transferable, and they can't be replaced if lost or stolen.

Tours and schools. Commercial tours pay by vehicle: $75 for a van seating 7 to 15, $100 for a mini-bus seating 16 to 25, and $200 for a motor coach seating 26 or more. NPS counts a trip as a commercial tour when an organization packages, prices, or sells the itinerary for profit. Schools and other educational groups may qualify for an academic fee waiver, and applications go in at least two weeks before the trip.

Visiting from outside the U.S.? Olympic isn't one of the eleven parks on the NPS entrance fee prices page that charge a $100 nonresident fee, so a car pays the same $30. The $80 America the Beautiful pass is for U.S. citizens and residents. The non-resident version is $250.

Where the money goes. Olympic keeps 80 percent of the fees it collects, under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. The park spends it on work like hiking trails, campgrounds, park roads and parking areas, and access for people with disabilities.

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. The first five have passed, so three are left this year: September 17, October 27, and November 11. Entrance is free for U.S. citizens and residents only, and other fees may still apply.

Of the three left, September 17 is the busiest, in a month that averages about 14,000 recreation visits a day over the past five years. October 27 falls in a month that averages about 8,500 a day, and November 11 about 5,900. For scale, August, the park's busiest month, averages about 20,200 a day. In 2026, September 17 also falls during the overnight Hoh River Bridge closures on Highway 101, and October 27 comes after the last one ends. See Olympic road closures.

Wilderness permits, camping, and fishing.

Wilderness camping. Every overnight trip into Olympic's backcountry needs a Wilderness Camping Permit. It costs $8 per person per night plus $6 per permit. Youth 15 and under are free but still count toward the group size, which is 12 people in most places. Two adults out for three nights pay $48 plus $6, or $54, on top of the entrance fee.

Campgrounds. Camping is charged on top of the entrance fee; prices by campground are on our Olympic camping page. Some campgrounds need a Recreation.gov reservation for part of the year. Fairholme, for example, requires one from May 15 to September 29, 2026, per the NPS current conditions page. That's a campsite booking. Olympic's fees page lists no reservation to enter the park.

RV dump stations. Dumping costs $10 per use, at the Fairholme, Kalaloch, Mora, and Sol Duc campgrounds.

Fishing. You don't need a Washington State fishing license to fish in the park, except when fishing the Pacific Ocean from shore, and children under 15 don't need one even there. Adults and children fishing for salmon or steelhead need a free Washington catch record card. Harvesting shellfish on the Pacific coast takes a Washington shellfish and seaweed license. Details are on the NPS fishing page.

Is the annual pass worth it?

Two seven-day vehicle passes cost $60, so the $55 Olympic National Park Annual Pass pays for itself on a second trip within its year. The $80 America the Beautiful pass costs $25 more and also covers other national parks and federal recreation lands, so it's the better buy once the rest of your year's entrance fees top $25. At 62 or older, the $20 Senior Annual Pass costs less than one visit. Olympic's fees don't change by season, so pick your dates on the best time to visit Olympic page and budget the pass separately.

For visitors from outside the U.S., the $250 non-resident pass doesn't pay off at Olympic alone, since a car pays $30 here. It only makes sense on a longer trip through parks that charge more. The calculator above runs your own numbers.

Common questions.

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, per the NPS entrance fee prices page. Olympic isn't on the list, so visitors from outside the U.S. pay the same $30 vehicle fee as everyone else.

Can you walk around Olympic National Park for free?

Not if you're 16 or older. Every visitor needs an entrance pass, and someone arriving on foot or by bike pays $15, good for seven consecutive days. Youth 15 and under are free.

Can you buy an Olympic National Park pass at the entrance station?

Yes, but the park doesn't take cash, and NPS suggests paying online at Recreation.gov before you arrive to spend less time in line. The $55 annual pass is sold at park visitor centers and entrance stations.

Where these facts come from

Entrance, annual, America the Beautiful, and commercial prices, the pass rules (photo ID, digital and mail-order passes), the no-cash rule, paying online, the academic waiver, wilderness permit and dump station fees, where fee money goes, and the 2026 fee-free dates come from the NPS Olympic fees page. That camping and wilderness overnight use cost extra comes from the NPS Olympic basic information page; the Fairholme reservation dates from the NPS current conditions page; the license, catch record card, and shellfish rules from the NPS fishing page; the Hoh River Bridge closure dates from the NPS Hoh River Bridge closure page. The eleven-park nonresident fee list comes from the NPS entrance fee prices page; the $250 pass coverage and 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 and permit totals are our arithmetic on the NPS prices. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.