A Senior Pass or Access Pass does not discount a BLM Long Term Visitor Area permit. The $180 season permit and the $40 short-visit permit cost the same whether you are 30 or 75. That comes from two official sources we read on November 5, 2026, and they agree.
What the sources say
The BLM’s Long-Term Camping on Public Lands brochure is the one the La Posa LTVA page links to today. It says: “Because LTVAs are special permit areas and not developed campgrounds, the Golden Eagle, Golden Age, Golden Access Passports, and America the Beautiful Pass discounts DO NOT apply to LTVA permit fees.”
The brochure’s file dates to 2018, so we checked it against a current page. The BLM’s Midland LTVA page still calls the winter permit a Special Recreation Permit, required September 15 to April 15. The Park Service’s passes page, last updated October 9, 2026, says the Senior Pass “may provide a 50 percent discount on some amenity fees” such as camping, and then: “The Senior Pass generally does NOT cover or reduce special recreation permit fees.”
So the half-price camping the pass gets you at campgrounds that honor it stops at the LTVA entrance. The Park Service page says “generally”, but the BLM’s own brochure doesn’t hedge for LTVAs. Plan on paying full price.
The math without a discount
Prices from the La Posa page and the Imperial Dam page, checked November 5:
- Long-term permit: $180. Good from September 15 to April 15, or any part of that window.
- Short-visit permit: $40. Good for 14 consecutive days, renewable as many times as you like at the same price.
Four short-visit permits cover 56 days for $160. A fifth takes you to $200, which is more than the season permit. If you will stay more than 56 days, buy the $180 permit. Arriving now and staying to April 15 is about 160 nights, roughly $1.12 a night. Both pages say an LTVA permit is valid at all of the BLM’s LTVAs.
For comparison: a Senior Pass holder at a $20 campground that does honor the discount pays $10 a night, or $140 for 14 nights. The $40 short-visit permit covers the same two weeks. Losing the discount still leaves the LTVA as the cheaper place to stay.
The catch
The free alternative has rules of its own. The brochure says camping on undeveloped public land outside an LTVA is free for 14 days in any 28-day period “unless otherwise posted”. After that you move more than 25 miles. Some LTVAs also ban camping in a ring around their boundaries. We covered that in the LTVA perimeter ban piece. The posted sign and the field office’s current guidance beat any website, ours included.
What to do
If you’re headed to Quartzsite or Yuma this winter, budget the full $180 or $40, and leave the pass in the glovebox for the national park leg of the trip. If the host or the Yuma Field Office (928-317-3200) tells you something different, get it in writing. Our La Posa season piece covers what the permit buys, and free camping in Arizona covers the land outside the LTVAs.