In celebration of its centennial, the National Park Service will waive entrance fees on 16 days in 2016.
The number of fee-free days is up from nine in 2015.
The free days include a week in April for National Park Week and a four-day period around the park service’s birthdate, Aug. 25.
The 16 entrance fee-free days for 2016 will be:
- January 18 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- April 16 through 24 – National Park Week
- August 25 through 28 – National Park Service Birthday (and following weekend)
- September 24 – National Public Lands Day
- November 11 – Veterans Day
“Fee-free days provide an extra incentive to visit a national park, especially during next year’s centennial celebration,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We added extra fee-free days so that everyone has a chance to join the party. With locations in every state, finding a national park is easy. The hard part might be deciding which ones to visit.”
To honor the National Park Service’s centennial, the National Park Foundation, the NPS’s Congressionally mandated has joined the agency in launching a public engagement campaign called Find Your Park to help all Americans discover all the things that national parks can be. Visit FindYourPark.com for a list of Centennial special events across the country and to learn how to discover, explore, recreate, be inspired, or simply have fun in national parks.
Usually, 127 of the 409 National Park Service sites charge entrance fees that range from $3 to $30. The entrance fee waiver for the fee-free days does not cover amenity or user fees for things like camping, boat launches, transportation, or special tours.
To continue the national park adventure beyond these fee free days, the $80 America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass allows unlimited entrance to more than 2,000 sites, including all national parks, throughout the year. There are also a variety of free or discounted passes available for senior citizens, current military members, fourth grade students, and disabled citizens.
Also, through the Every Kid in a Park program, families of every fourth-grade student in the U.S. can claim an annual pass at: EveryKidInAPark.com.