LEWES – Annual state park pass sales at Cape Henlopen State Park will be postponed this year due to ongoing renovation of the park office, Division of Parks & Recreation officials announced today. In-person purchases of park passes begin at parks statewide Nov. 28.

During construction this fall, park staff sold passes at the fee booth at the park entrance. This worked well for the smaller numbers of passes sold during the fall. However, the passes are very popular for gift giving, and demand is high during the holiday season.

Once the renovation is complete, 2017 pass and permit sales will resume. In the interim, passes are available online beginning Nov. 25 at destateparks.com/AnnualPass. Parks visitors can also buy passes and permits at the Indian River Life-Saving Station, 3.5 miles south of Dewey Beach on Delaware Route 1. The Indian River Lifesaving Station is open Wednesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The new annual passes are $35 for residents and $18 for residents age 62 and older. These, along with surf tags and military passes will be available online beginning Friday, Nov. 25 at www.destateparks.com/fees/passes. On Nov. 28, the public can purchase them in person from other state park offices, DNREC’s Dover licensing desk in the Richardson & Robbins Building at 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, or from authorized agents including: Eastern Marine in Newark, Carlisle Marine in Smyrna, Sam’s Fishing and Tackle in Greenwood, That Place in Millsboro, and Dover Air Force Base and the Rehoboth Beach/Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center.

In the meantime, good news for visitors: the placement of the annual pass has changed this year. It adheres to the outside of a vehicle’s windshield, rather than the inside.

“Many of our customers were having difficulty removing the sticker, and with tinted windshields, the Division felt it was time to put the sticker on the outside,” said Mary Voshell, chief of the Division’s Office of Business Services. “On the outside, the pass will be much easier to adhere to – and remove from – the windshield.” The pass will also be much more visible, Voshell added. “Staff and park rangers can now more easily see the pass in order to waive customers through the entrance stations and to check for violations.”

Delaware State Parks annual park passes and surf permits make great holiday gifts for the entire family, providing a full year of outdoor adventure, in Delaware’s 14 state parks. Whether it’s to hike or bike one of the many trails, walk the sandy beaches, participate in a nature program or attend an evening concert, the annual pass is a gift filled with year round activities.

Delaware’s state parks are primarily self-funded; 65 percent of state park revenue used to operate and maintain the parks is generated by park users. Annual passes not only are important to sustain state parks, they are a convenient way to access the parks for the entire fee season, March 1 through Nov. 30

Income from annual pass sales and other user fees goes directly to Delaware State Parks, where it is used to manage more than 26,000 acres of state park land and to ensure visitor safety, maintain trails and historic buildings provide environmental education and recreational programs, manage habitats and species and provide campgrounds, cabins and cottages, and more. More information about Delaware’s State Parks is available at destateparks.com.

Delaware State Parks won the highest honor a state parks system can receive: the 2016 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management. This prestigious award recognizes state parks systems throughout the nation that best address the needs of those they serve. Delaware State Parks was the only small state to ever be voted “America’s Best.”

Vol. 46, No. 407

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