Ticket prices will increase at Carlsbad Caverns National Park starting Jan. 1, 2019.
The National Park Service announced Friday the entrance fee price increase from $12 to $16 to provide additional funding for infrastructure and maintenance needs.
“Entrance fees help us protect the cavern and provide quality visitor services and experiences for our visitors,” Superintendent Dough Neighbor said. “For example, fees funded the current project to modernize our primary elevators.”
Funds will also be used to update and replace 60 exhibits that are more than 40 years old along the park road and inside the cavern.
At least 80 percent of the money from entrance fees stays with Carlsbad Caverns. The other 20 percent is shared with other national parks.
Carlsbad Caverns has had an entrance fee since 1927. The park is one of 117 National Park Service sites that charges an entrance fee. The other 300 national parks remain free to enter.
