Where we WISH we could go on every fee free day, Virgin Islands NP
If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you know that we, like Ken Burns, think national parks are one of America’s best ideas. In fact, Erin even wrote an award winning essay on this topic. And you might also know we have a clear written goal of visiting each of our 59 national parks. 42 down, 17 to go!
Visiting these parks provides great opportunities to explore some of the most majestic places in the United States. Places that are sometimes home to the only habitat of a particular kind left in our country. Places where wild animals roam freely, and where, if you’re lucky, you can catch a glimpse of them! Places where you can hike and bike and ski and snorkel. Places where you can turn off and unwind. Magic!
This year the National Park Service is again offering fee-free days* to explore all of the NPS park units: parks, monuments, lakeshores, historical sites, and more. We encourage you to look at your calendar and plan to take advantage of these great opportunities! Here are this year’s dates:
January 19
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
February 14-16
Presidents’ Day weekend
April 18-19
opening weekend of National Park Week
August 25
National Park Service Birthday
September 26
National Public Lands Day
November 11
Veterans’ Day
*Fine print from the NPS: Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.
Not sure what you’d do if you visited a national park? We’ve listed lots of ideas for making the most of a national park visit, and the NPS website offers great details about every park, including a Things To Do section for each one. 2015’s first fee free date is January 19, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Let us know if you get the chance to visit a park on a fee free date, and enjoy your week or your weekend!
A Week or a Weekend 