Whiskeytown National Recreation Area announces a new and convenient way to pay recreation fees by using the website https://www.pay.gov. As a designated US Fee Area, Whiskeytown requires a seven-day permit, annual or lifetime passes to cover recreation fees. Until now, visitors entering the park could only purchase passes at the visitor center between 10 am and 4 pm or they could use self-pay stations found at various locations. Now the $10 seven-day permits, $40 annual passes and $1 gold panning permits can be purchased online at any time.
Transactions are completed safely and securely using the Federal Treasury website https://www.pay.gov. For the seven-day permits, the visitor will print out the confirmation email as their pass to display on the dashboard of their vehicle. For gold panning permits, the visitor will print out the confirmation email, sign it and keep it with them when they are engaged in gold panning at Whiskeytown. The annual pass, valid both at Whiskeytown and Lassen Volcanic National Parks, purchased online will be mailed to the address provided at the time of purchase.
Whiskeytown and Lassen Volcanic's use of Pay.gov is another component of the park's commitment to be more convenient for visitors by increasing the ease of paying fees at home and to be more environmentally conscious by reducing the use of traditional "iron rangers" or self-pay stations. At the "iron rangers", visitors use a payment envelope and need exact cash or a check. Park personnel must travel by vehicle to these sites and spend many hours counting and verifying payment envelopes. With the use of the Pay.gov website, payments are directly deposited to park accounts where the funds can be used immediately for deferred maintenance projects related to visitor improvements including trail construction, campground maintenance and other services.
Pay.gov accepts multiple payment types, including credit and debit cards, bank account withdrawal (ACH), or PayPal accounts. To use this new payment opportunity, go to https://www.pay.gov. For more information about Whiskeytown's recreation fee program, please contact the park's fee management office at (530) 242-3412.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
