Louisiana State Park Access for Veterans and Military Families

Louisiana's park benefit for disabled veterans is more generous than the usual entrance discount, because it covers the car. Free admission to all sites is provided for disabled veterans and those accompanying them in a single private vehicle, with a State Park Permit. A veteran who arrives with a spouse, three children, and a grandparent pays nothing for any of them. The permit is the mechanism, so get it before you go. Apply through the local parish veterans service office. The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs sets the qualifying rating at a service-connected rating of 50 percent or greater and describes the result as exemption from the day use entrance fee. The state parks system describes the same permit as free admission to all sites. The parks pages do not restate the 50 percent figure, so treat LDVA's number as the one that governs the application, since LDVA issues the certification. Three other rates cover people the disabled veteran permit does not, and they need only a military ID rather than a permit. Active duty military personnel and one immediate family member receive a 50 percent discount for day use entry to a state park, historic site, or world heritage site on a current valid military photo ID. Note the limit of one family member; this is the narrower of the two disabled-veteran and active-duty routes for a large family. A 15 percent discount applies to all rentable facilities, good any day of the week, available to active duty and retired military, National Guard, and reservists. Cabins, lodges, and group facilities fall under this. Separately, a 50 percent discount on campsite stays is available to anyone 62 and older, which is often the better deal for an older veteran than any military rate. Reservations for cabins, lodges, group camps, campsites, meeting rooms, and rental pavilions go through the state park reservation system. Claim a discount at booking rather than at the gate, and carry the permit or the ID. The park permit is a separate thing from the free hunting and fishing license, and from the toll and parking exemptions, each of which has its own entry and its own certification. A veteran at 50 percent should collect all of them in one visit to the parish veterans service office rather than making three trips.