National parks, honestly priced
Book the tour, or do it yourself?
The short answer: at 19 of our 20 flagship parks, one $20–$35 vehicle fee covers everyone in the car, so groups often do better driving themselves. Whether a tour still wins depends on your parking, shuttle and time costs, and on a quote only you hold.
How it works
One decision, three honest numbers
1. The gate
What the park charges per vehicle or per person, including the non-resident fee where it applies. Pulled from NPS data, with the date we checked it.
2. Your DIY day
Add parking, shuttle, fuel and what an hour of your time is worth. We do the arithmetic in your browser; nothing you type leaves the page.
3. The tour quote
Paste a real quote from any operator. We show the break-even price, the point where the tour stops costing more than going alone.
Park hubs
Start with a flagship park
Fees, a month-by-month crowd chart, live alerts and a tour-or-DIY verdict for each park. 63 parks are in our dataset; our flagship parks come first.
Our rules
No invented numbers
Sourced
Fees, passes and alerts are National Park Service data. Monthly visits are NPS IRMA Stats. Each page names the source and the day we checked.
Dated
Last data check: Oct 26, 2026. Fees change, so we tell you to confirm at the park before you rely on a figure.
Independent
We are not the park service or a tour company. No tour prices appear here unless they come from a live feed, so your calculator quote stays yours. Read the method.