After splurging for 16 fee-free days to celebrate its centennial, the National Park Service will offer 10 in 2017.
The number is up from nine in 2015.
In 2017, the fee-free days include:
- January 16: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- February 20: Presidents Day
- April 15-16 & April 22-23: National Park Week Weekends
- August 25: National Park Service Birthday
- September 30: National Public Lands Day
- November 11-12: Veterans Day Weekend
During the fee-free days, all National Park Service sites will waive their entrance fees for all visitors. Usually, 124 of the 413 national parks charge entrance fees that range from $3 to $30. The other 289 sites do not have entrance fees. The entrance fee waiver for the fee-free days does not cover amenity or user fees for things such as camping, boat launches, transportation, or special tours.
The National Park System includes more than 84 million acres and is comprised of 413 sites including national parks, national historical parks, national monuments, national recreation areas, national battlefields, and national seashores. There is at least one national park in every state.
Last year, the national parks attracted a record 307 million visits, a mark the Park Service is on pace to shatter in 2016. The 2015 visitors spent $16.9 billion which supported 295,000 jobs and had a $32 billion impact on the U.S. economy.
Lead Photo: A black bear along Moose-Wilson Road in Grand Teton National Park (photo by Glenn Nelson).