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Seniors, who don’t run as fast as they used to, are running to snap up a great deal before the federal government jacks up the price of it by 700 percent.

It’s the lifetime senior pass to national parks, and the National Park Service is set to raise the price Aug. 28 from the current $10. The new price will be $80, an increase every bit as breathtaking as the sight of Yosemite or Muir Woods — two places the pass is valid.

Long ago, turning 62 entitled a person to a free lifetime pass. In 1994, the park service began charging $10. Last month, the agency said its new budget rules required the price to be $80, or the same level as that of an annual parks pass for adults.

The hike is part of the National Park Service Centennial Act, which seeks to address infrastructure needs through raised fees. Congress approved the act in December under the Obama administration.

Ever since the announcement, there’s been a run on the handful of park service outlets in the Bay Area that offer the pass — the visitor centers in the Presidio, at Fort Point, the Hyde Street Pier, the Marin Headlands and Point Reyes National Seashore.

“We’re selling about 10 a day,” said Rebecca Crowley, who dispenses the pass at the Lands End visitor center on Point Lobos Avenue in San Francisco. “Before, it was one or two a week.”

Crowley said the Lands End center stocked up on the passes so it wouldn’t run out before the price hike next month, as no park ranger wants to face a snarling senior in the wild.

“People seem to be happy and relieved to be getting their passes before the price goes up,” Crowley said.

Current pass-holders are not affected, and their lifetime passes will continued to be honored. Seniors with the passes can avoid the $30-per-carload entry fee at parks like Yosemite, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, and the $10-per-person entry fee at Muir Woods National Monument. No pass or fee is required to visit most facilities in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

The senior passes are also available online, for an additional $10 processing fee. But so many online orders have come in, the park service said, that there is a waiting period of two to three months. Applicants should buy the passes in person at park sites, the park service said

A park service spokeswoman noted that a senior who visits three parks would still save money with an $80 pass.

Neither senior passes nor regular park passes are valid for the Alcatraz tour and ferry, which is operated by a private concessionaire.

“It doesn’t seem very National Parks-y for the price to go up that much,” said Eric Knudson, of Seattle, a frequent park visitor, who lamented that, being only 51, he was unlikely to be turning 62 by next month.

“Ten bucks is an amazing deal,” he said. “Eighty dollars is still a good deal. I hope I’m still around for that.”

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com