If you're looking to enter Oregon's beautiful Crater Lake National Park this year, make sure to have a card or mobile payment system in place. As of January 2023, visitors will no longer be able to enter the park with paper money.
A statement from the National Park Service stated that the "transition to electronic payments reduces transaction times, saves money, and improves accountability".
Crater Lake in the winter. / Image via / Desirae / Flickr CC2
"Entrance fees are an important source of revenue used to improve the visitor experience in national parks, including road and facility repairs and maintenance, trail improvements, installation of accessible exhibits, visitor and resource protection services, and more. Moving to a cashless system allows parks to be better stewards of visitor dollars by reducing the amount of time park staff spend managing cash, increasing the amount of fee revenue available to support critical projects and visitor services, and improving accountability and reducing risk."
-National park service
Acceptable payment types for entrance and permit fees will include credit and debit cards and payment apps on mobile devices. It was not stated in the press release whether facilities and concessions inside Crater Lake National Park will still accept cash as a form of payment.
Passes for Crater Lake National Park can be purchased in advance at Recreation.gov. The America the Beautiful Pass, which is good at all national park sites and other federal land areas, is also available at the US Geological Service Store.
