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State Parks Honor Pass — or Just Your VA Benefits Letter, Until the Lifetime Pass Launches

The Veterans with Disabilities Honor Pass admits an honorably discharged resident veteran with a service-related disability to state parks — the department states no percentage threshold. A lifetime Veterans Honor Pass is being prepared and is pending final federal approval; until it launches the department says to keep using the 2025 pass together with a VA summary of benefits letter showing residency or ANY disability rating, and that the letter stays a valid entry method after the new pass arrives.

Verified August 20, 2026

What this benefit is

The Veterans with Disabilities Honor Pass admits an honorably discharged resident veteran with a service-related disability to state parks — the department states no percentage threshold. A lifetime Veterans Honor Pass is being prepared and is pending final federal approval; until it launches the department says to keep using the 2025 pass together with a VA summary of benefits letter showing residency or ANY disability rating, and that the letter stays a valid entry method after the new pass arrives.

What it's worth: State park entry with the Honor Pass — or with the VA benefits letter itself

  • Day-use entry fees at the parks are what the pass replaces; the exact scope (vehicle occupants, excluded parks) is on the pass terms.
  • A lifetime Veterans Honor Pass is being prepared in partnership with the federal department and is pending final federal approval as at 23 August 2026.
  • Until the official rollout the department says to continue using the 2025 Veterans with Disabilities Honor Pass together with a valid VA summary of benefits letter showing state residency or ANY disability rating.
  • The department states the benefits letter will remain a valid entry method even after the new pass launches.
  • Pickup is at State Parks region offices and all state parks, excluding Flight Park, Piute State Park, Jordan River OHV State Park, Utahraptor State Park, Lost Creek State Park and This is the Place Heritage Park.

Who is entitled to it

  • Your discharge was honorable.
  • You have a service-related disability.
  • You are a resident of this state.

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. 1Bring a CURRENT VA summary of benefits letter — the department names that document specifically, and as at August 2026 it says the letter itself is a valid entry method.
  2. 2Do not wait for the lifetime pass. It is pending final federal approval, and the department’s instruction in the meantime is to keep using the 2025 pass with the letter.
  3. 3Pick the pass up at a State Parks region office or at any state park, except six named sites: Flight Park, Piute, Jordan River OHV, Utahraptor, Lost Creek and This is the Place Heritage Park.
  4. 4Eligibility is honorable discharge, residency and a service-related disability — the department states no percentage floor, and its 2026 booklet says the letter may show ANY disability rating.
Form
Honor Pass pickup with VA letter
File with
State Parks region offices and park entrances
Documents you will need
va benefit summary letter
Periodic
Re-confirmed from time to time.
CorrectionPosition updated 23 August 2026. This record previously described a single pass with no transition. The department’s 2026 resource guide, read that day, states that a LIFETIME Veterans Honor Pass is being prepared with the federal department and is pending final approval, and that until rollout a veteran should keep using the 2025 pass with a VA summary of benefits letter showing residency or ANY disability rating — the letter remaining valid for entry even after the new pass launches. Do not surrender or stop carrying the letter.
CorrectionSecondary summaries state a 50% disability threshold and a specific guest count for the pass. The veterans department pages we read state neither — the recreation page requires only "a service-related disability" with a current VA letter, and the 2026 guide says ANY rating. If the parks apply a stricter gate at pickup, it is not in the published eligibility.
Known gapThe lifetime pass has no published launch date, no stated fee and no stated eligibility of its own — only that federal approval is outstanding. Ask a region office before assuming the 2025 pass has been superseded.

Sources

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