Minnesota state parks offer fall try before you buy promotion

[HD]

News Releases
Minnesota state parks offer fall try before you buy promotion



The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has a deal for visitors who can’t decide whether to purchase the one-day permit or the year-round permit when they arrive to hike, bike, and picnic amid the fall colors at Minnesota state parks and recreation areas.

If visitors choose the one-day permit ($5), they can turn it in before they leave for a $5 credit toward the purchase of a year-round permit. The cost of the year-round permit would therefore be reduced from $25 to $20.

“The year-round permit is the best deal, because it gives you and everyone in your vehicle unlimited visits to all 72 Minnesota state parks and recreation areas,” said Pat Arndt, manager of planning and public affairs for the DNR’s Division of Parks and Trails. “Often families have so much fun on their first visit, they make plans to return. Allowing them to apply the price of their one-day permit to the purchase of a year-round permit before they leave the park makes perfect sense, because it lets newcomers ‘try’ before they ‘buy.’”

To call attention to this special promotion, banners will be posted outside park offices through Nov. 1 with a headline of “Good times. Great deal.” Park staff will also wear buttons that say, “Why limit yourself? Ask me for more info.”

After Nov. 1, visitors can continue to redeem one-day permits for a $5 credit toward year-round permits purchased the same day.

There is a Minnesota state park or recreation area within 30 miles of most Minnesotans. State parks are open seven days a week year-round, including on holidays. Information about what there is to see and do at parks and recreation areas can be found online.