I’m surprised I haven’t seen this message in every newspaper and outdoor-related magazine across Florida: outdoor recreation on National Lands just became affordable! In January, the Federal Government started selling a new National Public Lands Pass. It’s designed to replace the mess of passes that one person had to get to visit all the federal public lands - National Parks, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, and (not relavant to Florida but to points west) Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation. For $80 - the same cost as a Florida State Parks pass - you’re covered to hit Everglades National Park, all of the fee areas in the Ocala, Osceola, and Apalachicola National Forests, and all of the many National Wildlife Refuges we have, some of which (like Ding Darling and St. Marks) charge admission. It’s good for a year from purchase. If you’re 62 or older, you can get a lifetime version of the pass for $10. Awesome! Just visiting the springs in the Ocala NF is worth buying this pass, since it costs $4 per person otherwise and the pass is good for a carload. I called last month and checked with the federal agency selling the passes and they told me they are good at all “US Fee Area” sites. Hooray! I’ll be picking up one soon.

Here’s where you can get yours online.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 10th, 2007 at 7:37 pm and is filed under Florida Hikes, Hiking Tips, Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.