Yellowstone entrance fee and passes.

Buying and using the pass.

Buy before you arrive. NPS encourages buying an entrance pass ahead to save time. The quickest route is a digital America the Beautiful pass from Recreation.gov: it saves to your phone and works immediately. Ordering a physical pass by mail from the USGS store can take up to three weeks, and NPS will not accept the order receipt in place of the pass.

At the gate. All five entrance stations sell passes and take cash and cards. There is nothing to reserve, so buying on arrival still works.

Bring the pass and the holder's ID. For any annual pass, NPS requires the named holder to be present with identification. The holder does not have to be driving. America the Beautiful passes are non-refundable, non-transferable, and cannot be replaced if lost or stolen. Residency for a resident-priced pass is checked by photo ID when you use it, not when you buy it. Arriving by snowcoach or shuttle, an annual pass admits the holder and up to three other adults; on a snowmobile it admits the signer only.

Buses, tour vehicles, and groups. The $35 rate is for a private, non-commercial vehicle seating 15 or fewer. A non-commercial group, such as a church group or scout troop, in a vehicle seating 16 or more pays $20 a person, so a 20-seat van is $400. Commercial tours pay on the vehicle's total seating capacity whether or not it is full: $125 for a van seating 7 to 15, $200 for a mini-bus seating 16 to 25, $300 for a motor coach seating 26 or more. A commercial sedan seating 1 to 6 is $25 plus $20 a person. Nonresident passengers on a commercial, CUA, or concessioner tour still owe the $100 fee; see the NPS commercial tour page.

Where the money goes. Under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act the park keeps 80% of the fees it collects. NPS puts Yellowstone's share at $12.1 million a year on average, spent on roads, campgrounds, accessibility work, and native fish restoration.

The $100 nonresident fee.

NPS states that each non-U.S. resident aged 16 and older must pay a $100 nonresident fee on top of the standard entrance fee. For four non-U.S. adults in one car, that is $35 for the vehicle plus $400 in nonresident fees, $435 in all. The alternative is the $250 nonresident America the Beautiful pass: per the NPS nonresident fee page, a valid pass covers entrance fees and nonresident fees for the pass holder and the passengers in the vehicle (or the holder plus three adults where fees are per person), so that same car pays $250 and the pass then works at every other national park for a year. If anyone in the group is a U.S. citizen or resident, their $80 America the Beautiful pass or $70 Yellowstone pass does the same job for everyone in the vehicle. NPS checks residency with a U.S. passport, a state or territory driver's license or ID, or a Permanent Resident card. Fee-free days do not help: from 2026 they apply to U.S. residents only, and non-U.S. residents pay both fees as normal.

This works with any valid America the Beautiful pass, not just the ones you buy. A $20 senior pass, a free Access, military or 4th grade pass, or a $70 Yellowstone annual pass all cover the nonresident fee for the passengers riding with the holder. The named holder has to be in the vehicle with photo ID.

Eleven parks charge this 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. Everywhere else in the National Park System, non-U.S. residents pay the standard fee only. Grand Teton charges the same $100, so a Yellowstone and Teton trip is $200 a head in nonresident fees before the vehicle fees. That is the arithmetic behind the $250 pass: one adult passes $250 on a second fee park, and three adults pass it inside Yellowstone alone. A pass bought before January 1, 2026 still counts.

Free entrance days in 2026.

NPS lists eight fee-free dates for 2026 covering ten days: February 16, May 25, June 14, July 3 to 5, August 25, September 17, October 27, and November 11. They waive the entrance fee for U.S. citizens and residents only; non-U.S. residents pay the standard fee and the nonresident fee as usual.

The dates are not equal. Three of the ten are July 3 to 5, in the park's busiest month: July has averaged 922,900 recreation visits over the past five years, close to 29,800 people a day. Saving $35 there costs you the morning. February 16 and November 11 are quiet, under 1,600 and under 800 people a day, but most park roads are closed to regular vehicles then. The road that stays open runs from the North Entrance at Gardiner through to Cooke City.

School groups have a separate route. Bona fide academic institutions visiting for educational credit can apply for an academic fee waiver, and NPS asks for three weeks to process one.

Reservations, permits, and fishing.

No timed entry. Yellowstone does not use a timed-entry system, and the NPS fees page says vehicle reservations are not needed. Campsites and lodging are the things that sell out, not the gate. See Yellowstone camping and where to stay.

Fishing permit. Anyone 16 or older needs a Yellowstone fishing permit: $40 for three days, $55 for seven days, $75 for the season, sold on Recreation.gov. Children 15 and under fish without a permit under the direct supervision of an adult who holds one, or with a free child permit signed by a responsible adult. The standard season runs from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend (May 23 in 2026) through October 31. Hooks must be barbless, all native fish (cutthroat trout, mountain whitefish, Arctic grayling) must be released, and felt-soled boots are banned. Details on the NPS fishing page.

Backcountry and boating permits are separate; see the NPS backcountry page and the NPS boating page.

Is the annual pass worth it?

Two seven-day vehicle passes in a year cost $70, the same as the Yellowstone annual pass, so the annual pass breaks even on a second separate visit and saves money from the third. The $80 America the Beautiful pass covers every national park, so it pays off once the entrance fees on your trip add up past $80; Grand Teton charges its own $35 vehicle fee, so a Yellowstone plus Teton trip is $70 at the gate, under the $80 pass; the pass only wins with a third fee park or a second trip. The Senior lifetime pass is $80 once. The fee schedule above does not vary by season, so pick your dates on the best time to visit Yellowstone page and budget the pass separately.

For non-U.S. residents the arithmetic is different. At $100 a person on top of the vehicle fee, one adult passes the $250 nonresident pass on a second fee park, and three adults pass it inside Yellowstone alone. On almost any multi-park trip the $250 pass is the cheaper option.

Common questions.

How much does it cost to enter Yellowstone?

$35 per private vehicle for seven consecutive days, $30 for up to two motorcycles, or $20 per person on foot, bike, or skis for visitors 16 and older. Visitors 16 and 17 count as adults for per-person and nonresident fees.

Do you need a reservation to enter Yellowstone?

No. NPS says vehicle reservations are not needed and Yellowstone has no timed-entry system. Lodges and most campgrounds need reservations; Mammoth Campground is first-come, first-served outside April 15 to October 15.

Does the Yellowstone pass cover Grand Teton?

The $35 Yellowstone vehicle pass does not. Grand Teton charges its own $35 fee, and NPS warns that driving to or from Yellowstone's South Entrance, including any trip to or from Jackson, takes you through Grand Teton. The $80 America the Beautiful pass covers both.

Does it cost to see Old Faithful?

No extra charge. Old Faithful is inside the park, and the entrance pass is the only fee to reach it.

Can you drive through Yellowstone without paying?

No. NPS requires an entrance pass to access the park, including to drive through it. The only exceptions are the ten fee-free days and an academic fee waiver for a qualifying school group.

Are kids free at Yellowstone?

Under 16, yes: no per-person fee, and a vehicle pass already covers everyone in the car.

When is Yellowstone free?

On ten fee-free days in 2026, listed above. From 2026 they apply to U.S. citizens and residents only.

Where these facts come from

Fee and pass prices, eligibility wording, and the fee-free dates come from the NPS Yellowstone fees page; the nonresident fee rules, pass passenger coverage, residency documents, and the U.S.-residents-only rule for fee-free days from the NPS nonresident fee page; Grand Teton's fee and its nonresident fee from the NPS Grand Teton fees page; the eleven-park list from the NPS entrance fee prices page; commercial and group rates, the seating-capacity rule, digital and mail-order passes, the holder-present rule, and the fee-retention figure from the NPS Yellowstone fees page; commercial tour nonresident rules from the NPS commercial tours page; the academic waiver from the NPS academic fee waivers page. The daily visit figures are our five-year means from NPS Visitor Use Statistics. Fishing permit prices, ages, season, and rules come from the NPS Yellowstone fishing page. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.