Maryland State Park Day-Use Waiver

Natural Resources section 5-1015 waives the day-use entry fee for a veteran who shows a veteran identification card, a driver's license or state identification card marked veteran, or other identification the Department of Natural Resources accepts. The Department of Veterans and Military Families says the waiver covers every veteran of the uniformed services, Maryland residents and veterans who live in another state. It covers the veteran, not the other people in the car, unless the park is charging a per-vehicle fee. In that case the vehicle fee is waived for a vehicle the veteran is in. Camping, boat launch beyond a day-use rule, and other facility charges are not waived. From October 1, 2026, Chapter 337 of 2026 (SB 161) adds former Maryland National Guard members discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable, who may not be veterans under federal law, on the same terms and with the same documents. Active service members and members of the Maryland National Guard have a separate waiver under section 5-1014 when they show a uniformed services identification card at the gate. That waiver has the same limit: the card holder, or the vehicle fee when the charge is per vehicle. No other facility charge is waived. A Maryland State Park and Trail Passport is a paid product, $75 for a resident and $100 for a nonresident on the department page, and it covers everyone in the vehicle up to 10 people. It is not this waiver. There is no disability rating on the veteran day-use waiver.