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Lifetime State Park Pass — Day Use AND Camping, No Rating Needed

A lifetime pass giving a resident veteran free unlimited day-use and camping access to every state park here. No disability rating is involved, and the application goes through the veterans agency.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

A lifetime pass giving a resident veteran free unlimited day-use and camping access to every state park here. No disability rating is involved, and the application goes through the veterans agency.

What it's worth: Free unlimited day use and camping at every state park, for life

  • The agency describes the pass as free unlimited day-use and camping access to all state parks here.
  • No day-use or camping fee schedule is published alongside it, so what it displaces in a year is not quantified.
  • The pass is described as lifetime, so it is applied for once rather than renewed.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served in the U.S. armed forces.
  • You are a veteran.
  • Your home is in New Mexico.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Apply through the veterans agency, not at the park gate — the form is the agency’s DVS15.
  2. 2Do not look for a rating threshold. Unlike the museum and historic sites pass, which asks for a 50% or higher service-connected rating, this one does not.
  3. 3Note that camping is included, which is unusual. Most state park benefits in this corpus waive day use only.
  4. 4A veteran rated 50% or higher should apply for the museums and historic sites pass at the same time, on the separate DVS16 form.
  5. 5Every resident veteran, spouse and child also gets free state park use and waived admission at the state museums on Veterans’ Day, independently of any pass.
Form
DVS15 — Application for State Park Unlimited Pass
File with
New Mexico Department of Veterans Services
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionTwo different park benefits are easy to confuse. The lifetime park pass has no rating gate; the museums and historic sites pass asks for a 50% or higher service-connected rating. They are separate forms.
Worth knowingThe pass is tied to residence here, not to where you served or were discharged.
Known gapWhether the pass covers a vehicle, a party or only the veteran is not stated on the agency page, and no park fee schedule has been read this session.

Sources

Why only one source type: The administering agency’s own state benefits page carries the description and the application form. No NMSA section is cited on it and none has been read this session, so no statutory citation is offered as authority.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.