Maine’s Acadia National Park Won’t Accept Cash to Get In

Starting April 15, Acadia National Park will be completely cashless to enter the park.

Acadia National Park in Maine is one of the busiest national parks in the country. Over 4 million people (or nearly quadruple Maine's population) visit Acadia annually. Starting April 15, 2025, they will transition to a fully cashless fee system and mobile payments, credit cards, or debit cards at park sales outlets for entrance fees.

What if I only have cash to get into Acadia National Park?

If you only have cash to visit one of the most beautiful national parks (and also one of the smallest) in the country, you'll have to do a little more planning. There are nine local third-party vendors from which you will need to buy a park pass. The good news is that cash sales are less than 5% of in-person sales to get into the park. But it does chew up some valuable time of Acadia's rangers.

READ MORE: Acadia’s 2024 Success: A Year of Increased Visits for the Maine National Park

How will going cashless help Maine's Acadia National Park?

Even though cash sales to get into the park are less than 5%, it still takes time to process a cash sale. According to a press release from Acadia National Park,

Acadia’s rangers spend up to eight and a half hours per day documenting, reporting, and transferring cash receipts. Moving to a cashless system will reduce the amount of time park staff spend managing cash and increase their availability to collect fees, increasing the amount of fee revenue available to support critical projects and visitor services.

So plan ahead, and if you have a wad of cash from your winnings at Oxford Casino Hotel, plan to grab a park pass before heading into this amazing park.