SF Beaches & Lookouts Might Start Charging $3/Hr Parking in 2022

The National Park Service on Friday announced plans to add new parking fees at sites in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco and Marin County and begin a new fee for after-hour tours at the Point Bonita Lighthouse.

The proposed fees, for sites that are currently free, include parking lots at Baker Beach, Lands End Lookout, Sutro Heights, Stinson Beach, China Beach, and Rodeo Beach and Fort Cronkhite. The parking fees would be $3 per hour or $10 daily, charged between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., according to the park service.

Evening tours at the Point Bonita Lighthouse would cost $16 for people ages 16 and up, $10 for children between 7 and 15 years old, and $8 for seniors and access pass holders.
The park service says the fees are needed to fund operations in response to the big crowds coming to national park sites in the region, citing the more than 12.4 million people who came to places in the GGNRA in 2020.

Earlier this year, the park service also proposed fees for camping in the Marin Headlands, parking at four lots in the Presidio, and tickets for evening tours at Fort Point National Historic Site. Those changes, and the ones announced Friday, are scheduled to take effect in mid- to late-2022 if implemented.

More information about the various proposed fees can be found at National Park Service. Public comments about the proposal are being accepted until Sept. 26 and can be sent by email at goga_business@nps.gov or by phone at (415) 561-4700.

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