Starting January 1, Michigan residents will pay a little more for the annual Recreation Passport.
For a full year of vehicle access to state parks, recreation areas, and other state-managed outdoor destinations, the fee in 2024 will be $14, a dollar more than the current $13, officials say, for a year’s worth of access to more than 100 of Michigan’s state part and recreation areas.
Ron Olson is the Chief of Parks and Recreation for the Michigan DNR.
“It’s a very affordable deal. It’s worked out very well. Also, the recreation passport, some people don’t know, but other than helping to fund infrastructure and operations of the state park system, it also provides funding to ensure allocations for historic and cultural amenities that we have.”
Olson says the moderate fee change is the result of a statutory provision that ensures Recreation Passport funding keeps pace with inflation. The cost for motorcycles will not change.
The nonresident Recreation Passport fee annual pass also will increase slightly, from $39 to $40. The monies generated by the Recreation Passport go into a restricted fund that supports state park infrastructure and operations, a local grant program for community recreation agencies, state forest campgrounds, nonmotorized pathways and trails, cultural and historic resource restoration, and marketing and promotion.
For comparison, even at $14, the 2024 Michigan resident Recreation Passport fee is lower than other states — examples: Indiana ($50), Minnesota ($35), New York ($80), and Wisconsin ($28).
