A WIZS TownTalk listener (11 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. M-F) recently submitted a written topic request via wizs.com/towntalk about the fees to enter the parks on Kerr Lake. On this topic, WIZS can address those fees for parks in North Carolina.
As Bryce P. Fleming, park superintendent at the Kerr Lake State Recreation Area explains, “Park fees are set system wide for the N.C. State Park System, and state parks have needed to increase revenues over the last few years.”
Park fees may include things like entrance fees, facility rental fees, permit fees and more. Fleming wrote in an email to WIZS News, “I do not see the entrance fees being reduced at Kerr Lake. However, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation did introduce the discount for active military and veterans this year.” Fleming said the division “also instituted dynamic pricing for campsites in the last year. It offers lower pricing for campsites during the week when they typically have a lower occupancy rate.”
According to the information provided by Fleming, the entrance/parking fees are charged on weekends only starting in April then seven days per week from Memorial Day through Labor Day before going back to weekends only in September. The entrance/parking fees are:
$7 per car on weekends – $5 per car for Seniors 62 and over and for active military and veterans.
$6 per car on weekdays – $4 per car for seniors 62 and over and for active military and veterans.
There is no entrance/parking fee October – March.
Also, visitors can obtain a season pass for $60 that permits entry April through September at Kerr Lake, Falls Lake and Jordan Lake. Fleming said the season pass can be used also for the “Hammocks Beach State Park ferry, a one hour boat rental at parks where that is offered and a swim pass at parks where there is a fee for swimming. There is no additional fee to swim at Kerr Lake State Recreation Area other than the entrance fee.”
When asked about using proceeds from vending and food trucks as an alternative way to raise money and reduce fees, Fleming said, “N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation has considered food trucks as a way to generate some revenue and provide an additional service that some of our customers may enjoy. We now have the ability to issue a permit to food vendors to operate in parks. We have not been approached by food vendors yet at Kerr Lake State Recreation Area.”