Vincent Gap parking lot no longer owned by forest service

[tekewin]

I parked at Vincent Gap a couple of days ago for a hike and displayed my forest service annual pass.

I was approached by a guy who said the forest service sold the parking lot to Big Pines Recreation. He said they will honor the forest service adventure passes and annual passes until the end of 2025. Then, you have to buy a Big Pines parking pass. The daily rate is $5 and a Big Pines annual pass is $30. He said they are affiliated with Mountain High, so you a parking pass might let you park there, too.

The machine is already installed:

[mikeywally]

We can probably park here with the old pass?

Screenshot 2025-08-04 at 8.33.49 PM 3.jpg

[dima]

Probably? Maybe across the street is ok too? There's some info in an earlier discussion, but nobody knows anything. It's still "owned" by the USFS, but operated by Mt High as a "concessionaire".

[tekewin]

My guess is you can still probably parks across the street. I should have checked it so I could report.

[JeffH]

My guess is you can still probably parks across the street. I should have checked it so I could report.

If you were to check with the guy that works for Mountain High he would probably tell you it's not allowed without their permit.
There was/is a lot of confusion about the requirements for Adventure Pass, only needed where "improvements" are made.

I noted this last year when I went to visit Blue Ridge from the highway, the lot there also has signage about the new passes. Also the entire area along the Jackson Lake region is under Mountain High control.