Every year the U.S. National Parks have select dates set aside for “free entrance days”.
I’ve never taken advantage of this offer but it definitely makes for a great time to plan a visit to a National Park. You’ll also save some cash along the way.
Entry fees are actually pretty reasonable. According to the NPS website “265 of your 398 national parks NEVER charge an entrance fee”.
To show an example of what it costs to visit a national park I’ll list the prices for Badlands NP. (Kim, Lucas and I visited the Badlands this past summer during our trip to South Dakota)
- Private, non-commercial vehicle- $15, valid for 7 days
- Individual- hike, bicycle- $7, valid for 7 days
- Motorcycle- $10, valid for 7 days
- Badlands annual pass- $30, valid one year from month of purchase
- Annual Pass- $80- covers entry to all national parks, national wildilfe refuges, national forests and many other Federal lands
2013 Entrance Free Days:
- January 21- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- April 22- 26- National Park Week
- August 25- National Park Service Birthday
- September 28- National Public Lands Day
- November 9- 11- Veterans Day Weekend
The free entrance days covers- entrance fees, commercial tour fees and transportation entrance fees.
Find out more about NPS Free Entrance Days HERE
