National Park Entrance fees waived on September 25

WASHINGTON – Come visit one of America’s 392 national parks on National Public Lands Day, September 25, 2010. All national parks are waiving entrance fees.

“I invite everyone to enjoy these special places,” said National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis. “National parks have contributed so much to me personally. Within their bounds, I’ve set off on adventures, relaxed in quiet solitude, and shared some unforgettable experiences with my wife and children. I encourage everyone to take advantage of the free entry on September 25. Bring your family and friends, and discover how America’s public lands can enrich your life.”

The national parks hold something for everyone—hardcore hikers and campers and people who like to explore history, take a leisurely nature walk, or simply pack a picnic lunch and get away from it all. In the parks, visitors of all abilities and interests can enjoy a day away, often without making more than a short trip from one of the population centers many of us call home.

For example:
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park offers residents of the Washington metropolitan area the chance to discover the Civil War and the build-up to this conflict.

New Yorkers can stroll and picnic in a landscape of woodlands and meadows, marsh and beach, at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site on Long Island.  For people who call Chicago or Gary, Ind., home, it’s not too late to build sand castles at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

At Bandelier National Monument, residents of Albuquerque and Santa Fe can climb wooden ladders and sit in cavates—tiny rooms carved into cliffs by Ancestral Pueblo people.  Folks in San Diego can get an up-close look at seastars, anemones, and other tidepool creatures at Cabrillo National Monument.

To discover many other activities available in national parks, please consult the National Park Service’s Events Calendar for 2010 (http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps/eventcalendar/listing/event_list.cfm ). It’s not too early to start thinking about how to take advantage of the next time your national parks waive entrance fees—Veterans Day, November 11, the last of 2010’s fee-free days.  http://www.nps.gov/

Here are the Utah parks that are participating in these FEE FREE day:


Arches National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Capitol Reef National Park
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Golden Spike National Historic Site
Hovenweep National Monument
Natural Bridges National Monument
Zion National Park


The National Environmental Education Foundation, a Congressionally chartered complement to the Environmental Protection Agency, organizes National Public Lands Day every year. This annual event encourages stewardship and enjoyment of public lands. On National Public Lands Day, volunteers labor to conserve national, state, and local parks; national forests; and other lands that belong to the American people. In support of the effort to engage people in service and recreation on public lands, the National Park Service waives entrance fees on National Public Lands Day.


http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm