Free Entrance Days in the U.S. National Parks

America’s Best Idea — our national parks — is even better when admission is free! Mark your calendar now for entrance fee-free dates for the coming year. On these dates, FREE entrance is available to 133 National Parks across the country that normally charge a fee.

During the fee-free days, the parks waive entrance fees, commercial tour fees and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservations, camping, tours, concessions and fees collected by third parties are not included in this promotion.

2024 National Parks entrance fee-free dates

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area  (Image: SAllgood)

• January 15: Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• April 20: First day of National Park Week
• June 19: Juneteenth National Independence Day
• August 4: One year anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act
• September 28: National Public Lands Day
• November 11: Veterans Day

Other National Parks Programs

At participating National Parks, kids can participate in the Junior Ranger program, where they’ll learn the importance of the official motto “Explore, Learn, and Protect!”. Participating parks provide a FREE booklet that describes all sorts of age-appropriate activities in the park. When they’ve completed the tasks, they are awarded an official Junior Ranger patch.

In addition to free days, any fourth grade student can get a FREE annual pass through the Every Kid Outdoors program, which begins on September 1, and active duty and military reserves can also get free passes. For more information about the variety of discounted passes available, please visit the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass page.

Entrance fees to extremely popular parks are typically in the $20 to $25 range for private cars. Many of the smaller parks, historical sites and recreational areas have lower fees, and over 250 sites are always free.

Another way to save if you’re planning a trip that includes multiple national parks, is to consider the $80 annual pass that provides entrance to all national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, and many other Federal lands – more than 2,000 in all.

Some of the National Parks near us are:

Lake Mead National Recreation Area– Check out all the Things to do at Lake Mead.

Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument– outside of NW Las Vegas

Death Valley– the hottest, driest, and lowest National Park

Arches in Moab, UT

Zion– Utah’s first National Park

Bryce Canyon in Utah

Find a Park by going to the National Park Service website and using the search tool or interactive map. You can search for parks in your state or parks that feature activities you like, such as camping, fishing or hiking, as well as educational programs and historic sites.

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