Parking passes for Balboa Park are now available for advance purchase through a new online portal that launched today. Passes are available at a discounted rate for City of San Diego residents who verify their residency through the portal and purchase the passes online. Verification could take up to two business days, so residents are encouraged to plan ahead. 

Paid parking will begin Jan. 5, 2026, in Balboa Park parking lots and at parking meters along roads within the park. In addition to annual and monthly passes, there are daily and hourly options available. Free parking will continue to be available for up to three hours at the Inspiration Point parking lot. 

Both verified City residents and non-residents may purchase daily parking, or monthly, quarterly or annual parking passes in advance. There will be a one-time $5 fee to register, and one form of residence verification will be needed, such as a driver’s license, vehicle registration or utility bill. Residents will also be asked to enter their vehicle’s license plate number. Rates posted on the kiosks throughout the park will only display the non-resident daily rate. Resident discounts are offered exclusively online and must be purchased in advance of your visit to the park. 

While the technology to verify residency at the kiosk is not available at this time, the City is working with our parking vendor to display the discounted daily rate for verified City of San Diego residents on the kiosk in the future. This would alleviate the need to purchase the daily pass online. 

By state and local law, parking revenues must be reinvested in the park, with eligible expenses to include park operations and maintenance. These revenues will be critical to support improvements and ongoing maintenance in Balboa Park. 

The daily cost of each parking lot within Balboa Park will vary, depending on how close it is located to the center of the park. To obtain the City of San Diego resident discount, residency must have been verified in advance via the online portal, which is also accessible from the City’s Balboa Park Parking Information website. It is important to note, the meter kiosks within the parking lots do not have the ability to verify City of San Diego residency on the spot and resident rates are currently not available at the kiosks. 

Below are the rates going into effect on Jan. 5, 2026:  

• Level 1 lots – Space Theater, Casa de Balboa, Alcazar, Organ Pavilion, Bea Evenson, Palisades and South Carousel 
  • Non-resident rate: $16 per day and $10 for up to 4 hours 
  • Resident rate: $8 per day and $5 for up to 4 hours 
• Level 2 lots – Pepper Grove, Federal, Upper Inspiration Point and Marston Point 
  • Non-resident rate: $10 per day 
  • Resident rate: $5 per day 
• Level 3 lot – Lower Inspiration Point
  • Non-resident rate: $10 per day with the first 3 hours free 
  • Resident rate: $5 per day with the first 3 hours free 

For those wishing to obtain passes, they are available for purchase via the portal for both City residents and non-residents. One pass is needed per vehicle. The passes will be virtual – there will be no physical placards or tags given to pass holders, and passes will be verified via license plate information. 

Meters are also being installed on roads within the park – including Balboa Drive, El Prado, Juniper Road, Presidents Way, Quince Drive and Village Place, and around the park on 6^th Avenue and Park Boulevard. Meter rates will be $2.50 per hour with a maximum of $10 per day. 

Monthly, quarterly and annual passes can be used both in the parking lots and on the roads within Balboa Park, but not for the meters outside the park on 6^th Avenue and Park Boulevard or in any Zoo parking lots. Additionally, the meters outside the park have a maximum four-hour stay. 

Hours of enforcement for all paid parking areas – both parking lots and metered street parking – will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. 

Parking will continue to be free at parking meters in and near Balboa Park for those with a Disabled Person license plate or placard. Free ADA parking will be available in the parking lots, in blue parking spaces marked for disabled parking. 

Beginning Jan. 5, free tram service will be expanded to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for anyone to use, and a free on-call shuttle will be available for park employees and volunteers before and after regular tram operation times. All trams are equipped with ADA-accessible ramps. 

Directional signage is being installed throughout the park, to assist visitors with identifying the parking lots and ways to pay at the parking kiosks. 

For information about the San Diego Zoo parking lots, please visit the Zoo’s parking website.