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Day passes

If you’re planning a trip to a NSW national park or reserve with entry fees and don’t have a valid annual parks pass, you’ll need to buy a day pass for your vehicle.

What’s a day pass?

A day pass allows you to bring your vehicle into the NSW national park or reserve where you bought the pass.

Day passes relate to vehicles, not people, so you only need to buy one pass for each vehicle or motorcycle that enters a park. You don’t require a day pass if you’re entering a park by foot, bicycle or public transport.

You also don’t need to buy a day pass if you have a valid annual pass or concession pass.

Which parks require a day pass and how much do they cost?

Motor vehicle entry fees are charged at 45 NSW national parks and reserves.

The rates of day passes vary from park to park.

Where can I buy a day pass?

Day pass payment options vary by park, and include:

Pay machines in a selection of the park's parking areas.
Park entry stations.
Self-registration boxes.
Participating visitor centres.
Park'nPay mobile app in select locations.
As part of an online camping or accommodation booking.

Before visiting, please check the park’s fees and passes information to find out what payment options are available in that park and if cash or card payments are accepted.

Can I buy a day pass with cash at park entry stations?

Cash is no longer accepted at our park entry stations. However, you can pay with cash at visitor centres and some coin-only pay machines.

You can pay by Visa or Mastercard Debit Cards and Credit Cards at park entry stations. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) doesn’t charge any fee or surcharge for card payment.

Entry stations don’t accept cash in these parks, but you can still pay with cash at their visitor centre or carpark pay machines:

Royal National Park
Royal National Park Visitor Centre, and pay machines at Royal National Park office, Bonnie Vale, Curra Moors and Garrawarra carparks.

Lane Cove National Park
Lane Cove National Park office or carpark pay machines (except at Oaks carpark).

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Bobbin Head Information Centre or carpark pay machines (except at Illawong Bay, Akuna Bay and Elvina trail).

Georges River National Park
Carpark pay machines.

Garigal National Park
Carpark pay machines.

Kamay Botany Bay National Park
Carpark pay machines.

Kosciuszko National Park
Tumut, Khancoban or Snowy Region visitor centres.

Munmorah State Conservation Area
Carpark pay machines.

Blue Mountains National Park
Glenbrook office carpark pay machines.

Exceptional situations

On rare occasions and at its own discretion, NPWS may accept cash at entry stations for operational purposes, possibly as the only form of payment. For example, if there’s a power outage or an issue where card-payment systems can’t operate.

Legal tender

More information about acceptable legal tender and a business’s right to not accept cash can be found on the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) website.

Benefits of entry stations not taking cash

Not accepting cash at entry stations has several benefits:

Better traffic flow on park entry roads, providing safer visitation.
Safer working environment for national park staff and contractors.
Operational savings that can be passed on to other projects, including improving visitor facilities, conservation and heritage activities.

How do I use a day pass pay machine?

There are 2 types of day pass pay machine used in NSW national parks:

Black touchscreen – Which accept tap payments only from card or payment-enabled devices.
Blue and yellow keypad – Which may accept card only, or cash and card.

Pay machine details, including cost and payment options for day passes, are displayed on each machine.

To use a black touchscreen machine:

Tariff information can be read by selecting the ‘?’ icon on screen.
On the touchscreen, slowly enter your vehicle’s licence plate.
Use the on-screen slider to set the duration of your pass.
Tap your card or payment-enabled device against the machine’s reader.
Your vehicle’s licence plate will be registered digitally, and you do not need to collect or display a physical ticket.

To use a blue and yellow keypad machine:

Using the physical keypad, slowly enter your vehicle’s licence plate.
Use the side-arrow buttons to set the duration of your pass.
Select your payment method (if both card and cash options are available).
Insert coins or insert or tap your card on the machine’s reader.
Collect your printed receipt from the machine.

Where do I find a day pass pay machine?

Day pass pay machines are located in a selection of parking areas in fee-collecting NSW national parks.

What do I do if I have a problem with a day pass pay machine?

If you can’t pay by card or tap, but coin payment is available:

You need to pay by coins and obtain a valid pass.

If you encounter a fault with a pay machine:

You must call the phone number indicated on the machine and provide details of the fault. You’ll need to include:

your contact name and phone number
your vehicle registration
the Meter ID
details of the fault.

You’ll be given a reference number and a technician will investigate.

If you’re hard of hearing or have speech difficulties, when reporting the fault please use the National Relay Service:

National Relay Service 133 677 – Teletypewriter (TTY) and voice calls.
SMS Relay Service 0423 677 767.

How do I get a copy of my receipt from a digital pay machine?

In areas where you don’t need to display your ticket, machines may not provide a paper receipt.

After you’ve bought your ticket the pay machine will provide a QR code, web link and receipt code. You can use these to download your digital receipt if you need it for your own records.
At any time during your stay, you can return to the machine you used to buy your pass and re-enter your number plate. It will provide you with the links to download your digital receipt again.
If you have your receipt code, you can also download a copy of your receipt at a later time from My Parking Ticket.

What is the Park'nPay app?

Park’nPay is an app from the NSW Government that allows you to make vehicle payments direct from your mobile.

Available in select NSW national parks, Park’nPay allows you to pay for your visit without having to find a payment location.

If you have an annual pass, or you’ve bought a valid pass from a pay machine, visitor centre or vehicle entry station, you won’t need to pay again with Park’nPay.

The Park’nPay app is free to download on iOS and Android.

Park’nPay is currently available at:

What do I do if I have a problem with the Park'nPay app?

If you can’t pay your day pass entry fee on the Park’nPay app, you must pay the fee at a park entry station, pay machine or participating visitor centre. If you don’t pay your entry fee, you must not enter the relevant fee-collecting NSW national park.

If you're a regular national parks visitor you can buy an annual pass online.

What happens to my personal information?

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is part of the Department of Planning and Environment. NPWS follows the department’s privacy policies and Privacy Management Plan, which can be found on the department's website.

When you request a parks pass NPWS may collect your car registration, personal contact, and any concession entitlement details, for the purpose of fee collection and management of vehicle entry fees. It may be shared with other NSW Government agencies, Service NSW or Revenue NSW, for the purpose of pass management or compliance matters.

If during your pass request you choose to make a donation, your contact details will also be shared with the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife.

You have a right to know what information is held about you. If you wish to access the parking fee information held by NPWS, you can contact us on 1300 072 757 (13000 PARKS) or parks.info@environment.nsw.gov.au.

For more information about privacy at the department, please contact:

Mailing address: Information Access & Privacy Unit, Locked Bag 5022, Parramatta NSW 2124
Phone: +61 2 9860 1440
Email: privacy@dpie.nsw.gov.au

Terms and conditions of use

Park entry passes are subject to terms and conditions. To see what conditions apply to your day pass, please review NPWS day pass conditions of use.