Time is running out on deal for seniors who love national parks

The price of a lifetime pass for those 62 or older to U.S. national parks is just $10, but it’s scheduled to increase to $80 by year’s end.

The increase was part of the National Park Service Centennial Act, signed into law last December by former President Obama. When it will take effect isn’t certain, but social media buzz is heating up ahead of summer travel to buy one now.

The money raised will go toward an endowment, the AARP reported, for projects and visitor services. The lifetime passes are available for $10 at participating federal sites. In Kansas, the list includes Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita, Council Grove Lake, Clinton Lake Project in Lawrence and Tuttle Creek Lake Project in Manhattan. An annual senior pass will be $20.

The lifetime passes may also be purchased online, but there is an added $10 fee to process applications. The passes are not only good at national parks but also national historic sites, national forests, national wildlife refuges and other federal recreation areas, said Lori Jones, who is in charge of visitor services at Great Plains.

She said the lifetime senior passes have cost $10 since the late 1990s, but interest in them has spiked because of the impending price jump.

“It’s a great deal for those people who are 62 or older and who are planning to go to several federal facilities in the very near future,” she said.

She is the only staff member who can issue the passes at Great Plains, so she asked that people call before they come to the center at 6232 E. 29th St. North. The number is 316-683-5499, extension 107.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 6:55 AM with the headline "Time is running out on deal for seniors who love national parks."