Fees to increase at campgrounds, Wright Memorial

Beginning Nov. 1, 2015, Cape Hatteras National Seashore will increase camping fees and Wright Brothers National Memorial will increase the entrance fee. 

The fee increases will allow park staff to fund much needed maintenance projects and “to continue to protect, preserve and share the special places at the Seashore and the Memorial with current visitors and for future generations,” the Park Service said in a news release.

The new fee schedule will be as follows:

Before the increase, the fee at Wright Brothers National Memorial was $4 per person.  At the campgrounds, the fee was $20 per night and !10 with a senior or Access pass.

The increased Wright Brothers National Memorial entrance fee will support a wide range of projects to improve the park and visitor experiences.  Some examples are maintenance of the memorial facilities, improvements and rehabilitation of the granite monument and other park structures, paving and road repairs, completion of a boundary survey of the memorial properties, and expediting and enhancing future projects, such as an ADA trail along the flight path. 

The expanded amenity fees for campgrounds will be utilized for potential future upgrades and enhancement of modern amenities for all of the seashore’s campgrounds, such as water and electric hookups to individual sites, and to replace the Frisco campground kiosk.  Additional revenue from this fee increase will allow park management to enhance visitor services.

In fall of 2014, the Outer Banks Group conducted a review of entrance and camping fees.  The review determined that entrance fees at Wright Brothers had not been raised since 2006 and that camping fees at the seashore had not increased since 2004.  The Outer Banks Group developed increased fees to align itself with the National Park Service entrance fee schedule for similar monuments and memorials around the nation. 

The Group also conducted a civic engagement in November 2014 to gauge public support for the fee increases.  A 30-day public comment period, Nov. 9 – Dec. 10 2014, accepted comments online and through the mail.  Public comments are important input to the National Park Service and an adjustment to the originally proposed fee increase was made. 

For more information, please visit the park websites at  www.nps.gov/caha and www.nps.gov/wrbr.