Since January 1, 2026, visitors to 11 of the country's most popular national parks who live outside the United States have paid a $100 surcharge per person aged 16 and older, and an annual pass costs them $250 against $80 for residents. The policy comes from Trump's July 2025 executive order “Making America Beautiful Again by Improving Our National Parks.” The parks are Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion. At Grand Canyon, SFGATE calculated, a family of two U.S. adults and two children pays about $35; an identical nonresident family pays $235.
On September 28, 2026, Across Arizona Tours, a Phoenix van-tour company founded in 2002, sued the Interior and Agriculture departments in federal court in Arizona. Its lawyers at the Pacific Legal Foundation, a libertarian legal group taking the case for free, argue that the federal recreation-fee law lets the secretaries set fees but does not authorize charging nonresidents more, and the complaint calls the surcharges “both unprecedented and unlawful.” Attorney Jacob Haas: “Only Congress can authorize federal fees, and Congress has never authorized higher fees for nonresidents.” According to the complaint as described by The Hill, the company's co-founder spoke with 80 to 90 prospective customers who did not book, often citing the fees.
The Interior Department said in August that the surcharge had raised $22.5 million since January 1. In a statement it said, “U.S. residents, who already fund the National Park System through federal taxes, are continuing to enjoy affordable pricing, while foreign tourists are paying higher entrance fees to help maintain our parks and improve visitor experiences.” The government has 60 days to respond.