Haleakalā Park Entrance Fees More Than Double

Park entrance fee station. Photo courtesy Haleakalā National Park.

By Maui Now Staff

The entrance fees to Haleakalā National Park will undergo a staggered increase over the next three years to meet national standards for parks with similar visitor amenities.

The per-person fee will increase from the current $5 rate to $12 in 2017 (in two-to-three dollar increments per year); the motorcycle fee will go from the current $5 fee to $20 in 2017 with annual increases of $5 per year; the per-vehicle pass will also undergo $5 annual increases from the current $10 fee to $25 in 2017.

The fee for a tri-park annual pass will remain at the current rate of $25 in 2015 and 2016, and then increase to $30 in 2017.  Park representatives say that based on public input, the park proposed a $30 fee for the tri-park annual pass instead of the national standard of $50.

The tri-park annual pass allows unlimited entry into Haleakalā National Park, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, and Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park on Hawaiʻi Island

The fee increases have been approved by the National Park Service and are scheduled to go into effect on June 1, 2015.

The new fee structure comes following a public comment period in late 2014 that included two public meetings.

Park representatives say the park received 58 comments fully supportive of the proposed increases; 23 supportive if the fees were phased in or lowered; 56 comments opposed to any fee increase; and 16 miscellaneous comments.

According to a park announcement, since 1997, fee revenues have funded $36.6 million in Haleakalā National Park projects. Some past examples of work include:

• $2.75 million of improved visitor amenities in Kīpahulu (new rest rooms, potable water, new parking lot);
• restoring trails throughout the park ($500,000 annually); and
• completing archeological surveys ($499,500 in 2010).
• Entrance fees also supported the control of invasive species ($299,000, in 2013);
• stabilization of silversword populations ($60,000 annually, 2012-13); and
• restoration of native landscapes ($113,000 in 2013).

The current National Park Service fee program began in 1997 and allows parks to retain 80% of funds collected. The remaining 20% goes into a fund to support park units where fees are not charged.

Currently Haleakalā National Park collects $3 million annually in entrance fees. When entrance fee increases are fully implemented, estimated annual revenues will be more than $7 million.

In 2014, 1,142,040 visitors to Haleakalā National Park spent over $70 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 837 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of over $84 million.

Sunrise at Haleakalā. Photo by Wendy Osher.

Iconic crater view. Photo courtesy Haleakalā National Park.

Silversword–endemic, threatened species. Photo courtesy Haleakalā National Park.

Silversword planting. Photo courtesy Haleakalā National Park.

Kīpahulu facilities. Photo courtesy Haleakalā National Park.

Pa Ka oao trail rehab. Photo courtesy Haleakalā National Park.