Beachgoers walk down a flight of concrete stairs to Sand Beach in Acadia National Park on June 30. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, non-U.S. residents will be charged $100 apiece to enter the park. Credit: Bill Trotter / BDN

Starting in a little more than a month, Acadia and 10 other national parks will start charging $100 entrance fees to each non-U.S. resident.

The surcharge will be in addition to other entrance fees that Acadia charges, including a $35 charge for each private vehicle that enters the park, according to federal officials. For a family of four visiting the U.S. on vacation, the cost of driving a rental car through the Sand Beach entrance station in Acadia will be $435.

The fees go into effect on January 1, 2026, federal officials said. Non-residents will be eligible to purchase an annual park pass to Acadia for $250, which for U.S. residents will cost $80. Non-residents without an annual pass will be charged $100 apiece.

“These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

It was not clear Friday what the potential impact might be on Acadia, which is popular among foreign visitors in part because of its proximity to major eastern U.S. cities that have connecting flights to Europe.

Officials with Acadia National Park and Friends of Acadia, a nonprofit group that supports and advocates for Acadia, did not return separate messages on Friday.

The $100 surcharge applies only to the busiest national parks that already collect entrance fees, federal officials said. Among those, Acadia ranks fifth for visitation, behind Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain and Yosemite national parks.

Other national parks that will apply the $100 surcharge include Bryce, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Teton, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Zion.

A news reporter in coastal Maine for more than 20 years, Bill Trotter writes about how the Atlantic Ocean and the state's iconic coastline help to shape the lives of coastal Maine residents and visitors....

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