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America The Beautiful Senior Pass


etrippe1

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Just ordered mine and not having had one before, what's the best way to use this? In find camping spots? And in finding parks that honor it for entrance fees and camping? And any thing else????

 

Also, we will be in SE MI till Nov and then not required to be in SW FL till Dec 1. Thinking of checking out some cg's with my new pass. Any suggestions between MI and FL? (and not necessarily a straight route there)

 

thanks in advance

travel safe and enjoy the ride

Eric and Karla Trippe w/ their dog Kora always in our thoughts
2006 3650 Georgie Boy Landau.. on a F53 chassis.
pulling a Malibu Maxx...w/ a kayak on top (Liquid Logic Duce Coupe)

 

09/16 update, after 8 yrs of fting, bought a house in Crystal Lake, IL

http://acoupleofboomers.blogspot.com

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Your Senior Access Pass will do the following

1 grant your vehicle and passengers admittance to all National Parks, historic site etc that charge a fee. This also include National Wildlife Refuges that have a fee and National Forests that have an entrance or parking fee

2 it will give you free and reduced fees at National facility's that have a fee based program. 2 that come to mind ate the Casa Grande NHM in Arizona or the Land between the Lakes in Kentucky

3 Army Corp of Engineer Parks reduced fee camping. Note that some have turned the management over to a state or county entity and so the reduced fee may not apply. 2 that come to mind are on the east side of the Dallas Fort Worth area.

4 camping at National Parks. Note that if the campground is run by a concessioner it may not accept your pass for a reduced fee such as Teton or Yellowstone

 

The web site for all National Park Campgrounds and ACOE will tell you if your pass is honored

 

Always ask because some state parks might give you a senior discount

 

If there are 2 of you then I suggest you both have one. At Land Between the Lakes only Ron was given the discount on entrance tickets because I didn't have mine

Ron & Linda

Class of 2007
2000 Monaco Diplomat

2005 Honda Element

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" Theodore Roosevelt

"We can't control the wind, but we can adjust our sail"

"When man gave up his freedom to roam the earth, he gave up his soul for a conditioned ego that is bound by time and the fear of losing its attachments."

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Try Sleeping Bear Dunes to try it out.

thanks dzwiss, been there and I want to get a bit south before stopping, it's Nov after all. How's Oregon? and the wife, kids and g-kids. Miss you guys here at the park

travel safe and enjoy the ride

Eric and Karla Trippe w/ their dog Kora always in our thoughts
2006 3650 Georgie Boy Landau.. on a F53 chassis.
pulling a Malibu Maxx...w/ a kayak on top (Liquid Logic Duce Coupe)

 

09/16 update, after 8 yrs of fting, bought a house in Crystal Lake, IL

http://acoupleofboomers.blogspot.com

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Most forest service campground also honor them with discounted camping.

Unfortunately many NFS campgrounds are now run by private companies and don't honor the pass. You just have to ask to find out.

2007 Arctic Fox 32.5 rls for full-timing, now sold.

2014 Sunnybrook Sunset Creek 267rl for the local campgrounds now that we are off the road
2007 Silverado 2500 diesel

Loving Green Valley, AZ (just South of Tucson)

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We use our Senior Passes several times a year for low cost camp sites. Our most recent use was at the COE Tompkins Recreation Area near Tioga, PA, but we probably wont use it again until we get to the NPS Midway Campground on Florida's Tamiami Trail in January.

Dutch
2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A
F-53 Chassis, Triton V10, TST TPMS
2011 Toyota RAV4 4WD/Remco pump
ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/brake system

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The concessionaire run forest campground that we worked at honored the passes. However the reservation site does not list it, and, I don't think they have a spot to list the discount for you. Many will have a spot on the envelope provided for drive up campers and honor the rate. There are some who do not however, and I had forgotten about that. We never make reservations, so use our pass frequently when we fill out the envelope for our site.

Pat DeJong

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We very rarely make reservations but last year we did for Swan Lake, MT. Forest Service C/G. There is a place on Reserve America to add your "Old Farts" pass and get your discount or we would have never reserved. If it is a concession aired C/G and they honor the pass, it usually takes 1/2 off the camping but you pay full fare for electric like at Bakers Hole.

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So the best advice is to check and ask for yourself

Ron & Linda

Class of 2007
2000 Monaco Diplomat

2005 Honda Element

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" Theodore Roosevelt

"We can't control the wind, but we can adjust our sail"

"When man gave up his freedom to roam the earth, he gave up his soul for a conditioned ego that is bound by time and the fear of losing its attachments."

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  • 2 weeks later...

We are full-time and we have saved hundreds of $ with our pass. I have only had one incidence where it was Half price for the cardholder but with all we have saved I can afford the $2.50 it cost me. I just saved $45 at Hot Springs National Park campground and are going to Dallas area where it will be $8/night with the pass for 10 days. Add up the savings and well worth it. We don't plan our trip around the card but consider it a bonus when we can use it.

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You might want to check again - the Ft. Worth COE entered into a private/public partnership a couple of years ago and while you still got ½ off on fees, the fees were doubled what they were before. Not sure what it is now, because I know they had some problems with the steep fee increase which resulted in people not using the COE parks. Also, check to make sure that the water levels have dropped and you can get in. Several of the campgrounds had problems because of the high water/flooding over the spring/summer.

 

Barb

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834

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Just got mine this year. Got into Acadia National Park for free. I also use mine almost every week during the summer where I get into all the National Forest fee sites (not campgrounds) at no charge. It's a great thing!

Garry
2018 Grand Design Imagine 2600RB
2017 Chevy Silverado 1500

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We ask everywhere if it is accepted for a discount or free admission. We've been surprised at the places that said "sure!". What can I say....we're cheap.

 

Don't be so hard on yourself ... You're just being frugal . ;)

 

We do the same . :)

Goes around , comes around .

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jawa2010, we do the same thing. One such place was Shoshone Falls on the Snake River at Twin Falls, ID. It seems it can work both ways at the pay kiosk. We are usually in there a few times each year as we always "have to check the falls out". If it is a young person working the kiosk, sometimes you have to bring it up to them and they immediately acknowledge the pass. If it is an old fart working the booth, usually he beats you to asking. If ever in the area, go visit, as it is a city run park and very nice. Just don't take an RV down there!

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  • 2 months later...

X2 on what Barb said about Lake Lanier. We've encountered a couple like that.

Ron & Linda

Class of 2007
2000 Monaco Diplomat

2005 Honda Element

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" Theodore Roosevelt

"We can't control the wind, but we can adjust our sail"

"When man gave up his freedom to roam the earth, he gave up his soul for a conditioned ego that is bound by time and the fear of losing its attachments."

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As a suggestion....all parties should have their own individual pass. If you use it for tours only the holder gets half price. Also, if for some reason you end up with the card holder out of the picture.....

Dave W. KE5GOH

Stuck in the 70's ---

In E. Texas

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