July 31, 2025 • 18 mins
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Jennie and Craig talk about the sometimes confusing system of parking passes across Washington State and how to figure out which pass you need for what hike.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jennie Flaming (00:00):
Jennie, welcome to the Washington State hiking
(00:07):
podcast. I'm your host. JennieThwing Flaming,
Craig Romano (00:10):
and I'm your co host, Craig Romano, Craig
Jennie Flaming (00:12):
and I are happy to have you here. We provide
practical and timely, seasonalhiking advice for hikers, trail
runners and potential hikers andtrail runners of all skill and
ability levels that is helpful,accurate, fun and inclusive. All
right, Craig, today we aretalking about the various passes
(00:33):
and fees at different trailheads in Washington.
Craig Romano (00:40):
Oh, this is kind of a this could be, depending on
where you're coming from, peopleyou get all riled up over this,
because there's, there'sdefinitely these political,
philosophical views, yeah, butwe're not going to talk about
Jennie Flaming (00:52):
this, no, we're going to talk about the way
things currently are,
Craig Romano (00:55):
and yeah, and whether you play the game or
don't, exactly, yeah. And
Jennie Flaming (01:00):
so maybe a good starting point is just to let
everybody know that there areplaces that you can hike without
any kind of parking pass. Thereare some forest service sites,
not a ton, but there are placesthat are totally undeveloped.
There's also many counties inWashington don't charge fees.
(01:23):
For example, King County doesnot. There are a couple that do
have some sites with fees. But Iknow we you mentioned Snohomish
County and Clark County, soyou'll have to look into that
for where you live. But youcertainly can hike without a
pass. But a lot of our trailheads, of course, are covered by
passes. So I know I was going totalk with the state ones, and
(01:48):
you were going to talk about thefederal ones, Craig, where do
you want to start with state orfederal?
Craig Romano (01:53):
Right? So I think, and this is what's really
important. Sometimes peoplearen't aware of who, who's
managing the lands that they'regoing to be on. Yep, so, but
it's really important withpasses, but, but after we kind
of go through everything, I'lltell you my, my fail safe way to
address all this, so you don'thave to worry about that. So
Jennie is going to start withthe state breaking it down in
(02:14):
what are all the all these stateland management areas in the
past?
Jennie Flaming (02:17):
Yeah, absolutely. And, and one other
thing about this too, like we'renot going to discuss every trail
in Washington right now. Thatwould take forever. Um, so what?
And we wouldn't even, I mean,you know, we would miss a lot.
So just make sure that you'reusing your guidebook or the WTA
website to make sure you knowwhat passes there are. I have
(02:42):
found that all trails does notalways have this information
accurate. So make sure thatyou're looking at a guidebook
like one of Craig's awesomeones, or the WTA website,
because that will be accurateabout what land managers are
requiring.
Craig Romano (02:57):
Yeah. And in my books, I have it right up in the
front in the info block, yep,boom. So you know exactly what's
needed, and yeah, what theregulations are there? Okay,
Jennie Flaming (03:05):
perfect. Okay, so starting there are two
different passes that you need,different trail heads at
different times for the state ofWashington. So the first one,
the one that probably most ofyou are more familiar with is
called a Washington discoverpass, and that is the pass that
(03:27):
it stays with your car, but youcan put two vehicles on it, two
different license plates, andthen you hang it over on your
rear view mirror, or You justput it on the dashboard and so
it doesn't travel with you. Ittravels with the vehicle. And
you have to have the platenumber in there for it to be
(03:48):
valid, and that will give youadmission to you and parking at
any State Park in Washingtonduring the summer, and many of
them all year,
Craig Romano (03:59):
as well as DNR properties. Yes, yep. And also,
Jennie Flaming (04:02):
thank you, Craig. So also, Department of
Natural Resources propertiesthat aren't in state parks but
they're still state manWashington State managed land.
So an example of that would bethe mount side trail, which
isn't a state park but doesrequire a discover pass, and
there are quite a few placeslike that. Um, 10 away forest is
(04:26):
another one where there's placeslike that.
Craig Romano (04:28):
Yep, Tiger Mountain, Blanchard, capital
state forest, the alcohol burn,some big, big
Jennie Flaming (04:33):
areas. Yep, absolutely. Okay. So that's
discover pass. It's good for ayear. Uh, whatever month you buy
it in it expires at the end ofthe month at the following year,
same month. So if you buy it inNovember, it'll be good until
the end of November of thefollowing year. Okay. The other
thing with Washington state isthe snow Park passes, and there
(04:56):
are a few options with snowparks. But since this podcast is
about hiking. So I'll just stickwith the basic Washington non
motorized state park pass, whichis a sticker that you put on
your windshield. So that'sdifferent from the hanger,
right? You actually attach thisto your car, just so you know
(05:18):
what the other types are. One ofthem is a groom trails permit,
and so that is for groomed crosscountry ski trails. So if you're
just going to places to snowshoe, you probably don't need
that, but if you're a crosscountry skier, then you probably
do need that. And then there'salso a motorized one, which,
again, you might also need, butthat's not what we're talking
(05:39):
about here. So that's like forprimarily snowmobiles. So just
make sure when you're buyingyour pass. And we'll put links
to all of these passes down inthe show notes. Just make sure
you get the non motorized pass,because that's important. And
those are usually November 1 toApril 30. And one thing that can
(06:00):
be a little confusing about theDiscover pass is that it is
sometimes on federal land. Butfor example, between Seattle and
Ellensburg at Snoqualmie Pass,where the Gold Creek pond is
that is a forest service site.
So in the summer, you need oneof the Craig the passes Craig is
(06:22):
going to talk about in a minute.
But in the winter, it's managedby what by the state of
Washington, they plow the roads.
So you need a Washington snowpark pass there, even though
it's forest service land, andthat can be a little confusing,
and that's why, again, I want toencourage you to use your
(06:43):
guidebook, use the WTA website,just to make sure that you have
the right pass for the righttime of year, and just to add
one more thing onto that,typically, once they start
requiring a snow park pass, Itdoesn't matter whether there's
snow or not. The point is, it'sthe time of year where
(07:03):
Washington is managing theaccess to that land, even though
it's federal land. Franklinfalls near so called me pass is
another example of a place likethat, and there, there are many
others. So just pay attention tothat. Try not to get confused by
that. Just know that that's athing. Okay, Craig, take us to
the federal passes and federal
Craig Romano (07:26):
and before I continue, you might be listening
to Jennie and thinking, Oh, butmaybe I'll just risk it. What
the heck? Um, you know, peopledo that, and in some cases, you
get away and courses ethicalissues, we're not gonna talk.
But the fact is, if you don't,you can't get fined, and the
fine is a lot more than payingthe $30 and so you definitely
(07:47):
don't want to air on that. So somake sure you have the right
pass, just to save any type ofany hassles. And again, I'm
going to give you my, my, my,my, my fail safe way of doing
all this after I'm done by myspiel. So the other thing is,
you're going to hike on anynational forest, National Forest
property in Washington, Oregon,it requires a Northwest forest
(08:09):
pass. And those, I believe in,you'll get it. The interesting,
because I've never bought one,I'm going to tell you why. It's
$30 for the year, or it's fivebucks, five bucks for one time
use. And sometimes you can getthem at the trailhead, but do
not rely on that, because that'snot very it's only at a few
places. So it's $30 you can getthem at ranger stations, I
(08:31):
believe, at some of the outdoorlike REI, yeah, and they pay a
surcharge on that, but it's it'sgood for. Is it the calendar
year on that one I believe. Oris it, or is it for one year? I
think
Jennie Flaming (08:43):
it's one year, pretty sure. So I usually have
the other pass. I think that'swhat, right? And that's why I'm
gonna talk about it in a minute.
But I'm pretty sure it's thesame as state parks in state. So
it's a year out, yeah, a yearand probably a few days.
Craig Romano (08:56):
So that same thing, you display it on your
you display it on yourdashboard. And same thing, it's,
it's by the by the vehicle. Andhere's the thing in that
kitchen, any national forestsite that requires a a parking
fee in Oregon and Washington.
However, if you hike nationalparks, okay? And we have three
(09:17):
of them here in Washington,North Cascade, Olympic and Mount
Rainier, that pass is no good onthat. You think, oh, man,
Romano, what's up again? Anotherpass you do. But I'm going to
tell you a secret. So all thosethree pass, all those three
national parks, you could do twoways. You can just buy an
individual pass. So if you showup for Mount Rainier, you only
(09:37):
get there one week out of theyear, and it doesn't matter if
you're gonna go for a day orweek. Gonna go for a day or
week, because they're going tochart, it's going to be the past
week. And I have this in my booktrying to buy, I think it's like
$30 for the week for the carload. It could be pricey,
especially, you know, if you'rewhere this makes sense, like
you're on a vacation somewhere,and you're not coming back, and
you're only gonna go there once,and. Sense. But if you live
(09:59):
nearby and you're going all theway to Rainier on a regular
basis, then you can get theirannual pass just for Rainier.
And the same thing for OlympicNorth Cascade doesn't have
there's very few sites that arecovered under that. So for
Olympic and rainier, and like Isaid before, I have never bought
a Northwest forest pass and Ihave never bought a annual pass
(10:20):
to each of these parks. Do youthink? What am I a scofflaw? I
don't pay. No, I totally believein the fee system, because we
have to pay for the some waythere. Yeah, what I get is an
inter agency pass. I've beengetting them from day one and
interagency pass. They come inany forms. Now I'm old now, so I
have one for over 62 Oh,awesome. It's over 60 it's
(10:42):
called, they used to call it theGolden Eagle Pass. I think
people call it the senior, theold geezer pass. Now. But
anyways, if you, if you're 62 orolder, you can get one of those.
It's $80 for it, for it, you'redone. Unless you lose it. You
gotta buy it again. 80. No, I'mgonna tell you what. How good.
But if you're, if you're ifyou're young, and I had one of
these for many you get Americathe Beautiful pass. And I used
(11:02):
to get one of those every year.
And same thing, whenever you buyit, it's good for a year out. So
you buy it in May, it's good tothe following May, 80 bucks for
the year. And there's otherfourth graders get a pass. It's
part of the interagency if yougot a kid in school fourth
grade, you get a pass for theyear. If you're a vet, there's a
special pass for you. If you'redisabled, there's a special
(11:24):
pass. All these great passes.
Now here's the kicker with this.
Not only does that cover thatAmerica, the beautiful the
internet covers your nationalparks here in Washington, it
also acts as your forest pass.
So again, 80 bucks. Do the math.
If you're out once a month,that's covering you. And there's
even more, it not only coversyour national parks, your
(11:47):
national forest sites, it coversyour national wildlife areas,
your federal area. So a few ofthose have charges if you're
going to these national wildliferefuges. And it gets even
better. I use it not only herein Washington. I use it in
Maine. I use it in New Hampshirein California, in Florida. It's
good for the entire country. Atevery national park and National
(12:08):
Forest, they can't tell methat's not a good deal. So what
I'm amazing deal, it's doing, ifyou're out, just do the math and
plus simplify. So every year Ihave two passes. That's it in
this state, two passes. I havemy discover pass that covers my
state, and I have my NationalForest, my interagency pass that
covers everything else. That'sThat's it. You keep those two on
(12:30):
you and take them both hiking ifyou're if you're confused,
because it's going to cover you.
Yeah. Now, when I, when I travelto other state parks and stuff,
there's gonna be other fees, andlikewise, in Canada, but pretty
much that national that thatgolden, that interagency pass is
going to cover Yosemite,Yellowstone, Everglades, Acadia,
you name it, it's going to getyou those places. So that's the
way. I tell everyone to go thatway.
Jennie Flaming (12:51):
Yeah. And one other thing, I think that you
mentioned this, Craig, but justto make sure people know when
one other key difference withthe what's called the America
the Beautiful, yeah, pass, sothe interagency pass, the one
that's, that's $80 a year, ifyou're, if you're not over 62 if
you're not a veteran and you'renot a fourth grader, is that
(13:15):
it's a card that you put in yourwallet, so that one follows you
as a person, not your
Craig Romano (13:22):
vehicle. Yeah, that's that's really important.
You do get a hang tag for it soyou can use it for your forest
service pass, but you have tosign and file. And here's why
that's important. And this iswhat I like about it, as opposed
to the to discover pass. Itravel a lot, and when I travel,
I get rental cars, yeah, and soI'm visiting a National Park in
California with a rental car. Itdoesn't matter, because it shows
my My past is me where, if youdrive a rental car, here, it
(13:45):
could be problematic. Um, right.
So it follows you, and it's upto you. Get four, I mean, you
get all the rules, but I cantake my entire family in with
me. I think six adults or so. Ican't. It's a really good deal.
It is. So it covers us.
Jennie Flaming (13:57):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, for sure. Um,
cool, okay, well, and I alsoagree, like, don't overlook
those places like wildliferefuges and that sort of thing
that often have smaller fees,but still have fees, and you
won't have to pay them. And oneother thing I want to just
mention again, I'm glad youmentioned this, Craig, is that
(14:20):
you can't count on being able toget these passes at trail heads,
you know, sometimes there's nocell service, sometimes there's
no machine. Sometimes a statepark the booth might not be
there might not be a personworking to pay so, or you might
not have a checkbook anymore,you know, so getting these and
(14:43):
just having them with you forthe year, that's what I do. I
just renew them. I have the sametwo as you, plus the snow park
pass, right? And I just renewthem every year automatically. I
don't, I don't wait until I'mgoing. But, you know, I also use
them a lot.
Craig Romano (15:00):
Absolutely. And that's the thing too. With the
Yeah, make sure you have thepass. And it, again, depends on
where you're traveling. I knowsometimes you can get the passes
online and it's on your in yourin your phone. I know, I know. I
remember in Connecticut, I wasat a state park, and I have the
pass. I was able to purchase itright there off my phone, right,
right, right in the parking lotand and same thing in BC. And
we'll talk about, we'll talkabout upcoming in the Vancouver
(15:22):
area. There's a few of theplaces that charge a parking
fee. Same thing. You can do itright on your phone and you're
done. Really, really importanton that
Jennie Flaming (15:33):
cool, great. So I know that the various passes
and options that we have inWashington can be a little
confusing. Hopefully this helps.
We're putting links to all ofthese in the show notes. I have
one more.
Craig Romano (15:46):
I just remember too. Yeah, I know of at least
one tribe in the state that alsothe macaws, yeah, have to have
their own Yes, park pass thatyou have to get to. Yeah, same
thing you Yeah, Craig, can you
Jennie Flaming (16:01):
just share where the Makah people live and where
you need that pass? And I shouldsay that, like Craig and I have
been to a lot of places inWashington, but we have not been
everywhere, right? So this iswhy just coming back to this
point of researching it beforeyou go somewhere, to make sure
you know what pass you need. So,yeah, Craig, can you share a
(16:23):
little bit about the
Craig Romano (16:24):
macaw pass? Yeah, the Makah nation is the absolute
farthest Northwest point in thestate. So Nia Bay, Cape
Flattery, that area where theStrait of Juan de Fuca empties
into the Pacific. Some beautifulhiking there. And the Makah
people pretty much will allowyou to hike the trails. They
have some nice beaches, but youjust have one of their passes,
and you can get it at about fiveor six different places, right
(16:44):
on right on the reservation. Soit's not very difficult to get
Yep, and it's the same thing.
It'll be good for the year. Soif you're going to shy, shy or
or Cape Flattery, or going outto hobu beach, you're going to
need that pass. Yep,
Jennie Flaming (16:57):
awesome. Thank you. All right, everybody the
um, so just to wrap up aboutpasses federal land, if you have
that annual federal lands pass,the America the Beautiful pass,
then you don't also need aNorthwest forest pass, because
that covers everything that'sfederal as long as it's not
(17:18):
winter in A snow Park. And thenfor state of Washington lands,
including our State ParksDepartment of Natural Resources
land and some a few otherplaces, you need a discover
pass. And then snow park forwinter. One more thing I'm going
to say about the America theBeautiful pass, because it's a
little card. It's like a creditcard. I'm lazy, and I never put
(17:43):
it in its little hanger. I justthrow it on the dashboard, and I
will tell you that it ispossible for it to slide between
the windshield and the vents inthe front of your car, and it's
impossible to get it out. Sokeep that in. The
Craig Romano (17:58):
other thing, I'll warn you, don't be like me if
you leave it on your dashboardon a hot day, it will work and
you'll have a good time puttingit back into your
Jennie Flaming (18:10):
wallet. All right. Well, bye for now,
everybody. If you're enjoyingthe podcast, we would love to
have you leave us a rating orreview wherever you're listening
that will really help otherpeople find us. And don't
forget, there's a link toCraig's books and my email list
in the show notes you
Jennie, welcome to the Washington State hiking
(00:07):
podcast. I'm your host. JennieThwing Flaming,
Craig Romano (00:10):
and I'm your co host, Craig Romano, Craig
Jennie Flaming (00:12):
and I are happy to have you here. We provide
practical and timely, seasonalhiking advice for hikers, trail
runners and potential hikers andtrail runners of all skill and
ability levels that is helpful,accurate, fun and inclusive. All
right, Craig, today we aretalking about the various passes
(00:33):
and fees at different trailheads in Washington.
Craig Romano (00:40):
Oh, this is kind of a this could be, depending on
where you're coming from, peopleyou get all riled up over this,
because there's, there'sdefinitely these political,
philosophical views, yeah, butwe're not going to talk about
Jennie Flaming (00:52):
this, no, we're going to talk about the way
things currently are,
Craig Romano (00:55):
and yeah, and whether you play the game or
don't, exactly, yeah. And
Jennie Flaming (01:00):
so maybe a good starting point is just to let
everybody know that there areplaces that you can hike without
any kind of parking pass. Thereare some forest service sites,
not a ton, but there are placesthat are totally undeveloped.
There's also many counties inWashington don't charge fees.
(01:23):
For example, King County doesnot. There are a couple that do
have some sites with fees. But Iknow we you mentioned Snohomish
County and Clark County, soyou'll have to look into that
for where you live. But youcertainly can hike without a
pass. But a lot of our trailheads, of course, are covered by
passes. So I know I was going totalk with the state ones, and
(01:48):
you were going to talk about thefederal ones, Craig, where do
you want to start with state orfederal?
Craig Romano (01:53):
Right? So I think, and this is what's really
important. Sometimes peoplearen't aware of who, who's
managing the lands that they'regoing to be on. Yep, so, but
it's really important withpasses, but, but after we kind
of go through everything, I'lltell you my, my fail safe way to
address all this, so you don'thave to worry about that. So
Jennie is going to start withthe state breaking it down in
(02:14):
what are all the all these stateland management areas in the
past?
Jennie Flaming (02:17):
Yeah, absolutely. And, and one other
thing about this too, like we'renot going to discuss every trail
in Washington right now. Thatwould take forever. Um, so what?
And we wouldn't even, I mean,you know, we would miss a lot.
So just make sure that you'reusing your guidebook or the WTA
website to make sure you knowwhat passes there are. I have
(02:42):
found that all trails does notalways have this information
accurate. So make sure thatyou're looking at a guidebook
like one of Craig's awesomeones, or the WTA website,
because that will be accurateabout what land managers are
requiring.
Craig Romano (02:57):
Yeah. And in my books, I have it right up in the
front in the info block, yep,boom. So you know exactly what's
needed, and yeah, what theregulations are there? Okay,
Jennie Flaming (03:05):
perfect. Okay, so starting there are two
different passes that you need,different trail heads at
different times for the state ofWashington. So the first one,
the one that probably most ofyou are more familiar with is
called a Washington discoverpass, and that is the pass that
(03:27):
it stays with your car, but youcan put two vehicles on it, two
different license plates, andthen you hang it over on your
rear view mirror, or You justput it on the dashboard and so
it doesn't travel with you. Ittravels with the vehicle. And
you have to have the platenumber in there for it to be
(03:48):
valid, and that will give youadmission to you and parking at
any State Park in Washingtonduring the summer, and many of
them all year,
Craig Romano (03:59):
as well as DNR properties. Yes, yep. And also,
Jennie Flaming (04:02):
thank you, Craig. So also, Department of
Natural Resources propertiesthat aren't in state parks but
they're still state manWashington State managed land.
So an example of that would bethe mount side trail, which
isn't a state park but doesrequire a discover pass, and
there are quite a few placeslike that. Um, 10 away forest is
(04:26):
another one where there's placeslike that.
Craig Romano (04:28):
Yep, Tiger Mountain, Blanchard, capital
state forest, the alcohol burn,some big, big
Jennie Flaming (04:33):
areas. Yep, absolutely. Okay. So that's
discover pass. It's good for ayear. Uh, whatever month you buy
it in it expires at the end ofthe month at the following year,
same month. So if you buy it inNovember, it'll be good until
the end of November of thefollowing year. Okay. The other
thing with Washington state isthe snow Park passes, and there
(04:56):
are a few options with snowparks. But since this podcast is
about hiking. So I'll just stickwith the basic Washington non
motorized state park pass, whichis a sticker that you put on
your windshield. So that'sdifferent from the hanger,
right? You actually attach thisto your car, just so you know
(05:18):
what the other types are. One ofthem is a groom trails permit,
and so that is for groomed crosscountry ski trails. So if you're
just going to places to snowshoe, you probably don't need
that, but if you're a crosscountry skier, then you probably
do need that. And then there'salso a motorized one, which,
again, you might also need, butthat's not what we're talking
(05:39):
about here. So that's like forprimarily snowmobiles. So just
make sure when you're buyingyour pass. And we'll put links
to all of these passes down inthe show notes. Just make sure
you get the non motorized pass,because that's important. And
those are usually November 1 toApril 30. And one thing that can
(06:00):
be a little confusing about theDiscover pass is that it is
sometimes on federal land. Butfor example, between Seattle and
Ellensburg at Snoqualmie Pass,where the Gold Creek pond is
that is a forest service site.
So in the summer, you need oneof the Craig the passes Craig is
(06:22):
going to talk about in a minute.
But in the winter, it's managedby what by the state of
Washington, they plow the roads.
So you need a Washington snowpark pass there, even though
it's forest service land, andthat can be a little confusing,
and that's why, again, I want toencourage you to use your
(06:43):
guidebook, use the WTA website,just to make sure that you have
the right pass for the righttime of year, and just to add
one more thing onto that,typically, once they start
requiring a snow park pass, Itdoesn't matter whether there's
snow or not. The point is, it'sthe time of year where
(07:03):
Washington is managing theaccess to that land, even though
it's federal land. Franklinfalls near so called me pass is
another example of a place likethat, and there, there are many
others. So just pay attention tothat. Try not to get confused by
that. Just know that that's athing. Okay, Craig, take us to
the federal passes and federal
Craig Romano (07:26):
and before I continue, you might be listening
to Jennie and thinking, Oh, butmaybe I'll just risk it. What
the heck? Um, you know, peopledo that, and in some cases, you
get away and courses ethicalissues, we're not gonna talk.
But the fact is, if you don't,you can't get fined, and the
fine is a lot more than payingthe $30 and so you definitely
(07:47):
don't want to air on that. So somake sure you have the right
pass, just to save any type ofany hassles. And again, I'm
going to give you my, my, my,my, my fail safe way of doing
all this after I'm done by myspiel. So the other thing is,
you're going to hike on anynational forest, National Forest
property in Washington, Oregon,it requires a Northwest forest
(08:09):
pass. And those, I believe in,you'll get it. The interesting,
because I've never bought one,I'm going to tell you why. It's
$30 for the year, or it's fivebucks, five bucks for one time
use. And sometimes you can getthem at the trailhead, but do
not rely on that, because that'snot very it's only at a few
places. So it's $30 you can getthem at ranger stations, I
(08:31):
believe, at some of the outdoorlike REI, yeah, and they pay a
surcharge on that, but it's it'sgood for. Is it the calendar
year on that one I believe. Oris it, or is it for one year? I
think
Jennie Flaming (08:43):
it's one year, pretty sure. So I usually have
the other pass. I think that'swhat, right? And that's why I'm
gonna talk about it in a minute.
But I'm pretty sure it's thesame as state parks in state. So
it's a year out, yeah, a yearand probably a few days.
Craig Romano (08:56):
So that same thing, you display it on your
you display it on yourdashboard. And same thing, it's,
it's by the by the vehicle. Andhere's the thing in that
kitchen, any national forestsite that requires a a parking
fee in Oregon and Washington.
However, if you hike nationalparks, okay? And we have three
(09:17):
of them here in Washington,North Cascade, Olympic and Mount
Rainier, that pass is no good onthat. You think, oh, man,
Romano, what's up again? Anotherpass you do. But I'm going to
tell you a secret. So all thosethree pass, all those three
national parks, you could do twoways. You can just buy an
individual pass. So if you showup for Mount Rainier, you only
(09:37):
get there one week out of theyear, and it doesn't matter if
you're gonna go for a day orweek. Gonna go for a day or
week, because they're going tochart, it's going to be the past
week. And I have this in my booktrying to buy, I think it's like
$30 for the week for the carload. It could be pricey,
especially, you know, if you'rewhere this makes sense, like
you're on a vacation somewhere,and you're not coming back, and
you're only gonna go there once,and. Sense. But if you live
(09:59):
nearby and you're going all theway to Rainier on a regular
basis, then you can get theirannual pass just for Rainier.
And the same thing for OlympicNorth Cascade doesn't have
there's very few sites that arecovered under that. So for
Olympic and rainier, and like Isaid before, I have never bought
a Northwest forest pass and Ihave never bought a annual pass
(10:20):
to each of these parks. Do youthink? What am I a scofflaw? I
don't pay. No, I totally believein the fee system, because we
have to pay for the some waythere. Yeah, what I get is an
inter agency pass. I've beengetting them from day one and
interagency pass. They come inany forms. Now I'm old now, so I
have one for over 62 Oh,awesome. It's over 60 it's
(10:42):
called, they used to call it theGolden Eagle Pass. I think
people call it the senior, theold geezer pass. Now. But
anyways, if you, if you're 62 orolder, you can get one of those.
It's $80 for it, for it, you'redone. Unless you lose it. You
gotta buy it again. 80. No, I'mgonna tell you what. How good.
But if you're, if you're ifyou're young, and I had one of
these for many you get Americathe Beautiful pass. And I used
(11:02):
to get one of those every year.
And same thing, whenever you buyit, it's good for a year out. So
you buy it in May, it's good tothe following May, 80 bucks for
the year. And there's otherfourth graders get a pass. It's
part of the interagency if yougot a kid in school fourth
grade, you get a pass for theyear. If you're a vet, there's a
special pass for you. If you'redisabled, there's a special
(11:24):
pass. All these great passes.
Now here's the kicker with this.
Not only does that cover thatAmerica, the beautiful the
internet covers your nationalparks here in Washington, it
also acts as your forest pass.
So again, 80 bucks. Do the math.
If you're out once a month,that's covering you. And there's
even more, it not only coversyour national parks, your
(11:47):
national forest sites, it coversyour national wildlife areas,
your federal area. So a few ofthose have charges if you're
going to these national wildliferefuges. And it gets even
better. I use it not only herein Washington. I use it in
Maine. I use it in New Hampshirein California, in Florida. It's
good for the entire country. Atevery national park and National
(12:08):
Forest, they can't tell methat's not a good deal. So what
I'm amazing deal, it's doing, ifyou're out, just do the math and
plus simplify. So every year Ihave two passes. That's it in
this state, two passes. I havemy discover pass that covers my
state, and I have my NationalForest, my interagency pass that
covers everything else. That'sThat's it. You keep those two on
(12:30):
you and take them both hiking ifyou're if you're confused,
because it's going to cover you.
Yeah. Now, when I, when I travelto other state parks and stuff,
there's gonna be other fees, andlikewise, in Canada, but pretty
much that national that thatgolden, that interagency pass is
going to cover Yosemite,Yellowstone, Everglades, Acadia,
you name it, it's going to getyou those places. So that's the
way. I tell everyone to go thatway.
Jennie Flaming (12:51):
Yeah. And one other thing, I think that you
mentioned this, Craig, but justto make sure people know when
one other key difference withthe what's called the America
the Beautiful, yeah, pass, sothe interagency pass, the one
that's, that's $80 a year, ifyou're, if you're not over 62 if
you're not a veteran and you'renot a fourth grader, is that
(13:15):
it's a card that you put in yourwallet, so that one follows you
as a person, not your
Craig Romano (13:22):
vehicle. Yeah, that's that's really important.
You do get a hang tag for it soyou can use it for your forest
service pass, but you have tosign and file. And here's why
that's important. And this iswhat I like about it, as opposed
to the to discover pass. Itravel a lot, and when I travel,
I get rental cars, yeah, and soI'm visiting a National Park in
California with a rental car. Itdoesn't matter, because it shows
my My past is me where, if youdrive a rental car, here, it
(13:45):
could be problematic. Um, right.
So it follows you, and it's upto you. Get four, I mean, you
get all the rules, but I cantake my entire family in with
me. I think six adults or so. Ican't. It's a really good deal.
It is. So it covers us.
Jennie Flaming (13:57):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, for sure. Um,
cool, okay, well, and I alsoagree, like, don't overlook
those places like wildliferefuges and that sort of thing
that often have smaller fees,but still have fees, and you
won't have to pay them. And oneother thing I want to just
mention again, I'm glad youmentioned this, Craig, is that
(14:20):
you can't count on being able toget these passes at trail heads,
you know, sometimes there's nocell service, sometimes there's
no machine. Sometimes a statepark the booth might not be
there might not be a personworking to pay so, or you might
not have a checkbook anymore,you know, so getting these and
(14:43):
just having them with you forthe year, that's what I do. I
just renew them. I have the sametwo as you, plus the snow park
pass, right? And I just renewthem every year automatically. I
don't, I don't wait until I'mgoing. But, you know, I also use
them a lot.
Craig Romano (15:00):
Absolutely. And that's the thing too. With the
Yeah, make sure you have thepass. And it, again, depends on
where you're traveling. I knowsometimes you can get the passes
online and it's on your in yourin your phone. I know, I know. I
remember in Connecticut, I wasat a state park, and I have the
pass. I was able to purchase itright there off my phone, right,
right, right in the parking lotand and same thing in BC. And
we'll talk about, we'll talkabout upcoming in the Vancouver
(15:22):
area. There's a few of theplaces that charge a parking
fee. Same thing. You can do itright on your phone and you're
done. Really, really importanton that
Jennie Flaming (15:33):
cool, great. So I know that the various passes
and options that we have inWashington can be a little
confusing. Hopefully this helps.
We're putting links to all ofthese in the show notes. I have
one more.
Craig Romano (15:46):
I just remember too. Yeah, I know of at least
one tribe in the state that alsothe macaws, yeah, have to have
their own Yes, park pass thatyou have to get to. Yeah, same
thing you Yeah, Craig, can you
Jennie Flaming (16:01):
just share where the Makah people live and where
you need that pass? And I shouldsay that, like Craig and I have
been to a lot of places inWashington, but we have not been
everywhere, right? So this iswhy just coming back to this
point of researching it beforeyou go somewhere, to make sure
you know what pass you need. So,yeah, Craig, can you share a
(16:23):
little bit about the
Craig Romano (16:24):
macaw pass? Yeah, the Makah nation is the absolute
farthest Northwest point in thestate. So Nia Bay, Cape
Flattery, that area where theStrait of Juan de Fuca empties
into the Pacific. Some beautifulhiking there. And the Makah
people pretty much will allowyou to hike the trails. They
have some nice beaches, but youjust have one of their passes,
and you can get it at about fiveor six different places, right
(16:44):
on right on the reservation. Soit's not very difficult to get
Yep, and it's the same thing.
It'll be good for the year. Soif you're going to shy, shy or
or Cape Flattery, or going outto hobu beach, you're going to
need that pass. Yep,
Jennie Flaming (16:57):
awesome. Thank you. All right, everybody the
um, so just to wrap up aboutpasses federal land, if you have
that annual federal lands pass,the America the Beautiful pass,
then you don't also need aNorthwest forest pass, because
that covers everything that'sfederal as long as it's not
(17:18):
winter in A snow Park. And thenfor state of Washington lands,
including our State ParksDepartment of Natural Resources
land and some a few otherplaces, you need a discover
pass. And then snow park forwinter. One more thing I'm going
to say about the America theBeautiful pass, because it's a
little card. It's like a creditcard. I'm lazy, and I never put
(17:43):
it in its little hanger. I justthrow it on the dashboard, and I
will tell you that it ispossible for it to slide between
the windshield and the vents inthe front of your car, and it's
impossible to get it out. Sokeep that in. The
Craig Romano (17:58):
other thing, I'll warn you, don't be like me if
you leave it on your dashboardon a hot day, it will work and
you'll have a good time puttingit back into your
Jennie Flaming (18:10):
wallet. All right. Well, bye for now,
everybody. If you're enjoyingthe podcast, we would love to
have you leave us a rating orreview wherever you're listening
that will really help otherpeople find us. And don't
forget, there's a link toCraig's books and my email list
in the show notes you
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