News, Tips & Bargains : ’95 Will See End of Free Rides at Denali

This is the last year you’ll get a free ride on the shuttle buses that go deep into Denali National Park in Alaska.

Beginning next summer, the National Park Service will charge fees ranging from $12 to $30 a person to ride the buses that have been free to riders since 1972.

The new fees are among several changes being made at the park, says Russell Berry, superintendent of Denali. Other improvements include new, larger buses, a nationwide toll-free reservation service for bus and camping tickets (800-622-PARK) and improved road maintenance.

About 100,000 people--or nearly half the annual visitors to the interior of the park--use the shuttle buses each summer. Private traffic is generally prohibited for safety and to protect wildlife. The bus system, however, costs federal taxpayers about $1.5 million a year and ate up about 22% of the park’s operating budget, according to Berry.

Beginning with the 1995 season, single-trip shuttle bus tickets will cost between $12 and $30 per adult, depending on the destination. Children under 12 will still ride free. Even so, concessionaire ARA will absorb about $22 per rider, Berry said.

The park service is also weighing a proposal to charge climbers attempting Mt McKinley or Mt. Foraker $200 to help defray management costs, especially rescues. The proposal fits into a wider campaign by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to raise public-lands user fees. Already, rafters on the Grand Canyon’s Colorado River must pay a $75 fee.