A few more things come to mind about the Senior Pass (for those who may not be familiar with it)...
- Hang tags. These are the light plastic pass-holders you hang from your truck's mirror when you park in a place requiring the pass be visible to rangers. Those need to be stored somewhere you can find it when you need it. When mine gets ratty I ask for another at an entrance station but they often aren't available. If I don't have a hang-tag, I leave the pass on the dash. According to the FAQs, if you leave the pass on your dash, it's supposed to be left signature-side up. At first that seems wrong as the number is on the front. But it's also on the back of the pass.
- Decals. I wasn't aware of this one until reading the FAQs today: Open top vehicles like jeeps and motorcycles can get a free parking decal (since hang-tags can be stolen). Rules for them include:
- Decals are issued on annual basis, even for owners of lifetime Senior/Access passes
- Decals are NOT valid for entry at staffed entrance sites - you MUST show your pass
- Decals must be obtained in person and you must show the following: your Pass, driver's license and vehicle registration. The name on all three documents must match.
- Signs at campgrounds or parking areas may use different terms for the pass. Perhaps this has improved but I remember being confused at seeing signs calling it the "Interagency pass" or "Federal Lands pass" in some cases and the "America The Beautiful Pass" in others. I was wondering why I wasn't seeing the words "Senior Pass". But the others are just names for the entire set of passes.
- There are some situations where it's not obvious a Senior Pass is all you need. Last Fall, for instance, we were on the
Kancamagus Scenic Byway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Most of the parking lots were pay lots. Fortunately, we happened to run into a ranger early on and he reminded us that the highway is in the White Mountains National Forest and we could park free with our Senior Pass (but did need to display it).
- If your Senior Pass gets broken or just old and you want another one, your only option is to buy a new one. There is no trade-in or credit for the old one. My old one broke from being in my wallet and I put it in a self-laminating card protector. That happened to be around the time they were increasing the price from $10 to $80 so I also bought a second one.
- Senior passes are also good for a discount at Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds.
- Senior passes aren't always good for a camping discount. If a campground is run by a concessionnaire, there may not be a discount. The oddest no-discount example I've seen was at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area last summer. We camped at Red Canyon campground and the sign said the discount didn't apply because the Forest Supervisor had declared all 8 campsites there as Group Campsites. But they were just regular small spur campsites with barely enough room for one vehicle close to a single picnic table.
