Monument Visitor Fees Will Change

Beginning New Year’s Day, it will cost $3 per car to enter the Cabrillo National Monument on the tip of Point Loma. The flat fee, good for seven days, will replace a sliding-scale fee that has been assessed visitors coming by auto for the past year.

Visitors who enter the park on foot, by bicycle or by commercial bus will be charged $1 for a seven-day permit. An annual permit will be sold for $10 and will be valid for entry to monument grounds by any form of transportation.

The money is for improvements at the monument, which could not be paid for because federal budget deficits affect the Department of the Interior, the parent agency for the nation’s national parks.

Cabrillo monument will begin a series of guided walks on military history, birds and tide pools next week, Superintendent Gary Cummins said.

The military history walks cover remnants of World War II, when the Point Loma region sprouted with long-range artillery and anti-aircraft emplacements in anticipation of a Japanese invasion. Included is a tour of a World War II bunker, which would have been used to coordinate an invasion defense.

The military walks begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the visitors’ center and will be offered each Sunday through March.

Bird walks begin twice daily at the visitors’ center on Saturday, Jan. 16, 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m, and then monthly on the third Saturday of each month through June. National Park Service volunteer Claude Edwards, who will conduct the tours, encourages visitors to bring binoculars.

The tide pool guided walks are offered during winter low-tide periods, and begin at 2:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, running through Jan. 4. The one-hour walks will be offered again periodically through March during low-tide periods.

People are asked to call the monument center for reservations or additional information between 9 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. daily. All walks are limited to 15 people.