The Tuzigoot River Access Point, one of the last free-access public natural areas run by Arizona State Parks & Trails, will soon no longer be free.
The Tuzigoot RAP, which is run by the state and separate from the Tuzigoot National Monument operated by the federal National Park Service, will soon require either a Parks and Trails $200 annual pass or a $10 per vehicle per day entrance fee.
The fee will be collected via a self-pay option on site.
The fee is for only the parking lot. Visitors who are being picked up from entering the waterway elsewhere will not have to pay the fee.
Arizona State Parks & Trails Deputy Assistant Director Michelle Thompson said the fee has a Sunday, March 1, start date.
“Arizona State Parks & Trails does not receive any taxpayer funding for the operations of our parks,” She wrote in a recent email. “We are a self-funded agency, with all revenue that we bring in from camping, day-use and tours going directly back into staffing, maintenance, supplies, programming and upgrades at the parks.”
Clarkdale Manager of Parks and Communications Chell Smart said the state agency does spend money at the site.
“Most recently, they paved the road that’s leading down to the parking area,” she said. “So, it was a big improvement for all of our visitors.”
The road was paved in late 2023.
Arizona State Parks & Trails partially reimburses the town for maintenance costs of the access point, Smart said.
These maintenance costs include the two portable bathrooms on site, trash bins and ambassadors, who are on site for trash pickup and education purposes.
“The new fee will help us recover those costs and enable us to continue to keep the area in good shape for visitors,” Thompson wrote. “All of our other state parks and natural areas do have a fee for visitors.”
The town signed the contract allowing for partial expense reimbursement on Aug. 16, 2023, Smart said.
The state of Arizona acquired the property in 1986 and expanded it most recently in 2004.
“In 2012, the town of Clarkdale entered into an agreement with AZ State Parks to cooperatively manage 69.28 acres of the land as part of the Verde River @ Clarkdale,” Clarkdale’s website states.
“Since they are reimbursing us for those fees, that’ll kind of keep those costs from being paid for with tax dollars,” Smart said. “Instead, really, these fees are going to be what ends up reimbursing the costs of cleaning the site and keeping the site running, so tourists and visitors from other communities are going to end up helping to supplement those expenses.”
The Lower TAPCO RAP, which is a few miles away, is owned by Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold, Inc, but under its Access License Agreement, it is operated by the town. The entrance fee for this one is $5 daily per vehicle.
Annual passes for this RAP are $40 for residents and $50 for non-residents.
“Of the natural areas that Arizona State Parks & Trails manages and are open to the public, [the Tuzigoot RAP] was one without a fee, as it is part of the Verde River Greenway State Natural Area,” Thompson wrote. “Access to other areas of Verde River Greenway can be through Dead Horse Ranch State Park, where there is a fee for entrance.”
She said it will not have a separate annual pass like the Lower TAPCO RAP.
