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.
Read more about Day passes
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.
Motor vehicle entry fees are charged at 45 NSW national parks and reserves.
The rates of day passes vary from park to park.
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.
Cash is not accepted at our park entry stations. However, you can pay with cash at visitor centres and some carpark 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 at some carpark pay machines:
Royal National Park
Royal National Park Visitor Centre, and pay machines at Bonnie Vale, Garrawarra and Wattamolla carparks.
Lane Cove National Park
Lane Cove National Park office or carpark pay machines located near DeBurghs, Dehli Road and Lady Game entrances.
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Bobbin Head Information Centre or carpark pay machines at Apple Tree Cafe, Bobbin Inn and West Head lookout.
Georges River National Park
Various carpark pay machines.
Garigal National Park
Carpark pay machines located at the boat ramp and toilet block.
Kamay Botany Bay National Park
Carpark pay machines located at Cricket Pitch, Commemoration Flat, Inscription Point, the Leap and Cape Solander Platform.
Kosciuszko National Park
Tumut, Khancoban or Snowy Region visitor centres.
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.
Day pass pay machines are located in a selection of parking areas in fee-collecting NSW national parks.
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 Machine Number
- details of the fault.
To find the Machine Number, touch the screen. You'll see the Machine Number in the bottom left corner of every screen except the first one. If the screen doesn't turn on, provide the location of the machine, including the name of the park and any other place markers.
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.
- 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 from the e-receipt website.
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:
- Bents Basin State Conservation Area
- Beowa National Park
- Blue Mountains National Park (Glenbrook area only)
- Bouddi National Park
- Brisbane Water National Park
- Broken Head Nature Reserve
- Burragorang State Conservation Area
- Cape Byron State Conservation Area
- Cattai National Park
- Garigal National Park
- Georges River National Park
- Kamay Botany Bay National Park
- Kosciuszko National Park (Thredbo-Perisher area, Khancoban area and Selwyn area only)
- Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
- Lane Cove National Park
- Munmorah State Conservation Area
- Myall Lakes National Park
- Royal National Park
- Sydney Harbour National Park
- Tyagarah Nature Reserve
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.
Most fee-collecting parks charge per calendar day with some exceptions.
- Cape Byron State Conservation Area charges hourly rates
- The Chowder Bay - Gooree area of Sydney Harbour National Park charges hourly rates
- Kosciuszko National Park day passes are valid for a 24-hour period. Some pay machines can accept payment for multiple days.
You’ll need to comply with signposted park closure times even if your day pass is still valid.
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is part of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). 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 National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
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 please read the privacy statement.
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.