Usery Pass Mountain Area Yearly Pass is $75.00 (Share cost?)

[hikingsunshine]

I like to hike this area a couple times a week as it is only 8 miles from where I work. It is $75 for a year pass which I think is expensive. When signing up for the yearly pass, one can list two vechicle licsense plates.

I bought a yearly pass in 2006 and my year just ended. I definitely used the pass enough to get my $75 worth ($5 per visit without pass) BUT I still think that spending say $3 a visit is still too much. I like to hike for about an hour for my cardio verses going to a gym and do this 2-3 times a week (under 100 degress). Would like to see if I can get this pass again but pay less!!

Can I have someone else who likes to hike this area share the cost with me? What do you think? If so, would anyone be interested in going in with me?

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks -

Dawn

[Nighthiker]

Hike the Goldfields, review the Hiking the Goldfields. Trailhead also located at the end of Meridian Road.

[jonathan brady]

I AM NEW TO THE SITE. I SAW THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SHARING THE COSTS ON A PASS. I WILL TALK TO MY HIKING PARTNER AND SEE IF WE WOULD USE THE PASS ENOUGH THIS YEAR TO PURCHASE ONE. I WILL GET IN touch with YOU AS SOON AS I FIND OUT. THANKS FOR THE INFO.

JONATHAN BRADY

[hikingsunshine]

Hike the Goldfields, review the Hiking the Goldfields. Trailhead also located at the end of Meridian Road.

Totally know that spot. The only problem is that it adds about 2+ miles to the already 3 miles up/back to wind cave. I hike after work and about this time I finish just as it is getting dark and the added 2+ miles would definitely put me in the dark. Plus those miles are flat and I prefer the 800 EC that comes with the wind cave trail and when the sun goes down later in the day, I would much rather kick back up to wind cave for another jaunt than those flat miles.

Good idea and I have considered that...but just want to start at the base of wind cave mainly for time reasons.

Dawn

[CannondaleKid]

I understand the feeling about the cost... I came from Minnesota where for a Hennepin County (a metro county with many parks similar to Maricopa) pass it was $25/yr. So when when I moved here in '02 it seemed a bit much to fork out $75. Yet after buying a new pass every year since then, I no longer see it as an expense for hiking, but rather as an investment in the park and the community.

That said, I'd like to be very frank here... Parking outside the park each time and walking in to avoid paying is flat out stealing. Please, let's no lower ourselves to that level, and further let's not urge others to do the same.

If you think $75 is too much for a yearly pass, why not compare it to buying tickets to a 3 hour sporting event... what, depending on the event you may get 1/2 a ticket, 1 ticket, or maybe three for some cheap seats? Just nine hours of fun for $75?

So c'mon now... $75 for a year pass for as much time as you want to spend enjoying the outdoors? Priceless!

P.S. If you truly can't afford it but will make full use of an annual pass, PM me.

[joebartels]

Parking at Meridian Trailhead is stealing? Isn't it a trailhead? Where do the free trails go?
Does it say no entrance?

[Nighthiker]

For the directionally challenged I was offering an alternative to the Usery Mtn. Park Area, The Goldfields. There is a trailhead at the end of Meridian Road with trails that lead into the Goldfields and over to Usery Mtn. Park.

[CannondaleKid]

I have no issue hiking from Meridian Rd trailhead into the Goldfields or even the majority of Pass Mountain, both of which are actually part of Tonto National Forest. As such, I agree, access is completely free of charge.

What I take issue with is avoiding paying a fee when making use of Usery Park itself. And yes, while most of Pass Mountain trail is in Tonto, it does pass through Usery.

I agree Nighthiker, you offered a valid alternative to Usery and said nothing about avoiding paying any fee.

However, in the context of the original post (talking about Pass Mountain), if one were to start from Meridian and hike through Usery Park without a pass... well, I stand by my statement.

In the end, I'm all for promoting enjoying our outdoor national treasures and I do my part in that promotion through time, energy and $.
If these treasures are free, fabulous! If not, we should have no problem with paying what is asked. If we don't like it, our choice is to pay for our use anyway, not pay and not use, or try to change the fees through legal means. But use without paying when payment is required is wrong.

Hey, hikingsunshine... sorry this appears to have gotten on a tangent, however relevant it may or may not be. Again, speaking directly to your original request, if you want to split the fee in half, I'll kick in the other half. Just PM me.

[wallyfrack]

Park Entry Fee - Day Use
Per motorized vehicle entry - $5
Per pedestrian, bicycle or horse - $1
Per watercraft - $2
Conservation Area per person - $3
Per school bus - $10

The pedestrian/bicycle fee is only a $1. So, technically we would owe $1 by using the Meridian trailhead. Works for me! I was thinking about splitting the pass but only one of the two vehicles listed on the pass can enter each day.

[Davis2001r6]

I understand the feeling about the cost... I came from Minnesota where for a Hennepin County (a metro county with many parks similar to Maricopa) pass it was $25/yr. So when when I moved here in '02 it seemed a bit much to fork out $75. Yet after buying a new pass every year since then, I no longer see it as an expense for hiking, but rather as an investment in the park and the community.

That said, I'd like to be very frank here... Parking outside the park each time and walking in to avoid paying is flat out stealing. Please, let's no lower ourselves to that level, and further let's not urge others to do the same.

If you think $75 is too much for a yearly pass, why not compare it to buying tickets to a 3 hour sporting event... what, depending on the event you may get 1/2 a ticket, 1 ticket, or maybe three for some cheap seats? Just nine hours of fun for $75?

So c'mon now... $75 for a year pass for as much time as you want to spend enjoying the outdoors? Priceless!

P.S. If you truly can't afford it but will make full use of an annual pass, PM me.

If you ask me charging $75 just to be able to hike somewhere for a year, now thats stealing. Up until now a National Parks pass was $50, ok so this year it will cost me $75, but to be able to use ALL the national parks.

Same reason I don't hike in Sedona either.

[hikeaz]

I understand the feeling about the cost... I came from Minnesota where for a Hennepin County (a metro county with many parks similar to Maricopa) pass it was $25/yr. So when when I moved here in '02 it seemed a bit much to fork out $75. Yet after buying a new pass every year since then, I no longer see it as an expense for hiking, but rather as an investment in the park and the community.

That said, I'd like to be very frank here... Parking outside the park each time and walking in to avoid paying is flat out stealing. Please, let's no lower ourselves to that level, and further let's not urge others to do the same.

If you think $75 is too much for a yearly pass, why not compare it to buying tickets to a 3 hour sporting event... what, depending on the event you may get 1/2 a ticket, 1 ticket, or maybe three for some cheap seats? Just nine hours of fun for $75?

So c'mon now... $75 for a year pass for as much time as you want to spend enjoying the outdoors? Priceless!

P.S. If you truly can't afford it but will make full use of an annual pass, PM me.

If you ask me charging $75 just to be able to hike somewhere for a year, now thats stealing. Up until now a National Parks pass was $50, ok so this year it will cost me $75, but to be able to use ALL the national parks.

Same reason I don't hike in Sedona either.

I agree, Tim (I bekieve that it's $80.00 for the America the Feeutiful Pass, but the point is the same).
Zipping up to Wind Cave and back is a lot different, and uses a lot less "infastructure" than having a whole family use the: tables, playground, potties AND trails.

[mttgilbert]

That said, I'd like to be very frank here... Parking outside the park each time and walking in to avoid paying is flat out stealing. Please, let's no lower ourselves to that level, and further let's not urge others to do the same.

I disagree. It's stealing to ask me to pay extra to maintain a park that my tax dollars should be maintaining. I don't use the benches, the tables, the bathrooms, or the vending machines. All I want to do is walk on the trail. I shouldn't have to pay for that, in Usery Park or anywhere else. They should be charging a fee to use the developed areas, that I agree with, but why should I have to pay them to maintain a bunch of stuff I don't use.

Also, if they require a fee to park at, say, peralta trailhead (which accesses weavers needle) and I park at firstwater, where there's currently no fee and then walk to the needle, am I "stealing" access to the needle?

[Hoffmaster]

That said, I'd like to be very frank here... Parking outside the park each time and walking in to avoid paying is flat out stealing. Please, let's no lower ourselves to that level, and further let's not urge others to do the same.

I disagree. It's stealing to ask me to pay extra to maintain a park that my tax dollars should be maintaining. I don't use the benches, the tables, the bathrooms, or the vending machines. All I want to do is walk on the trail. I shouldn't have to pay for that, in Usery Park or anywhere else. They should be charging a fee to use the developed areas, that I agree with, but why should I have to pay them to maintain a bunch of stuff I don't use.

Also, if they require a fee to park at, say, peralta trailhead (which accesses weavers needle) and I park at firstwater, where there's currently no fee and then walk to the needle, am I "stealing" access to the needle?

Couldn't have said it better myself. By the way, there is no fee station at Peralta trailhead anymore!

[wallyfrack]

I checked my Usery Park Map and the Meridian trailhead to Wind Cave is outside the Usery Park Boundary. It's in Tonto National Forest.