County Hiking Entrance Fees at Museums and Beach Parking Lots

Like almost everything else, the cost of attending Los Angeles County museums or parking at a state or county beach is going up.

Effective April 1, the Board of Supervisors has decided, it will cost most adults $3 rather than $1.50 to visit the County Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, the Page Museum at La Brea Tar Pits, the county Arboretum and the Botanic Gardens.

Parking at county beaches (and at state beaches operated by Los Angeles County) will go from $3 to $4 a day. Supervisors were told by county Department of Beaches and Harbors officials that the increase is necessary to ease a $7-million deficit in beach operations.

It was estimated that about $500,000 a year will be realized by raising the parking rate at county beaches.

Larry Paynter, a state Parks and Recreation Department spokesman, said entrance fees at most state parks will go up from $2 to $3 per vehicle on the same date, and that coastline parks (including beaches) will be raised from $3 to $4 per car.

The same price increase will apply at regional parks, including Castaic Lake Recreation Area, Bonelli and Santa Fe Dam Regional county parks and the San Gabriel Canyon Off-Highway Vehicle Area.

As for the county museums, senior citizens and students over 12 with identification will be able to enter for $1.50 each, while children aged 5 to 12 will remain at 75 cents. Museum members and children under 5 will continue to get in free.