{"id":95684,"date":"2019-11-14T08:58:47","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T16:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=95684"},"modified":"2021-07-15T12:05:19","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T19:05:19","slug":"fee-free-entrance-days-for-national-parks-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/fee-free-entrance-days-for-national-parks-in-2020","title":{"rendered":"You Won\u2019t Need to Pay an Entrance Fee at Our National Parks on These Days in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Park Service (NPS) recently <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/planyourvisit\/fee-free-parks.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">announced<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that there will be five free-entrance days in America\u2019s national parks in 2020. Those dates include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monday, January 20 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Saturday, April 18 (the first day of National Park Week, as well as National Junior Ranger Day)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tuesday, August 25 (National Park Service\u2019s Birthday)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Saturday, September 26 (National Public Lands Day)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wednesday, November 11 (Veterans Day)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are more than 400 national park units in the U.S., with 110 of them charging between $5 and $35 to visit. But on these five days, you can enter any park at no cost. The waiver doesn\u2019t include camping fees, boat launch fees or transportation fees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAcross the country, more than 400 national parks preserve significant natural and cultural areas, each one an important piece of our national identity and heritage,\u201d said <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/vela-to-become-acting-director-of-the-nps-effective-immediately\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Acting National Park Service Director David Vela<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a press release. \u201cFree entrance days serve as additional motivation for people to get outside and enjoy these places of inspiration and recreation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year, the fee-free entrance day program will also include sites managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This has often been the case during past years, according to Kathy Kupper, public affairs specialist for the NPS, but each agency offers slightly different days.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The USFS and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blm.gov\/policy\/ib-2020-006-0\">BLM<\/a> will observe free-entrance days in 2020 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 20; President&#8217;s Day, February 17; National Get Outdoors Day, June 13; National Public Lands Day, September 26; and Veterans Day, November 11. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eighty percent of USFS lands are routinely free for visitors, but the remaining 20 percent (including picnic areas, destination visitor centers and developed trailheads) will be free on those five days next year, according to Todd Harbin, assistant national recreation fee program manager for the U.S. Forest Service.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The other participating organizations have yet to announce their free days for 2020, but the days will likely correlate with the ones from years past and will be announced in the coming weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFee-free days inspire people to experience the natural beauty, history and heritage we all share,\u201d said Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalparks.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Park Foundation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the charitable partner of the NPS. \u201cThey remind us that across our 419 national parks, there is something for everyone, and all are welcome to explore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Free-entrance days have been a tradition of the National Park Service since 2003, with the first days held just twice annually, on National Public Lands Day and Veterans Day. That changed in 2009, when the NPS began offering more days to boost visitation. Between 2009 and 2017, the agency hosted anywhere from eight to 17 fee-free days per year. During the summer of 2017, the park service opened its units for one free weekend every month, also to encourage visitation, according to Kupper.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The program changed again in 2018, though, with the NPS citing a need for additional revenue to improve facilities and address deferred maintenance, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/subjects\/infrastructure\/maintenance-backlog.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which now totals $12 billion<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In 2018, the NPS offered four fee entrance days. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/explore-the-national-parks-for-free-on-these-days-in-2019\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last year<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the number crept back up to five.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than 300 of our nation\u2019s parks are free year-round and the 110 parks that do charge fees are among the country\u2019s most popular, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/a-century-of-denali-national-park\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Denali National Park<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Alaska, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/travel\/grand-canyon-national-park-visitor-guide\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grand Canyon National Park<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Arizona, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/travel\/rocky-mountain-national-park-visitor-guide\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rocky Mountain National Park<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Colorado. (You can see a full list of participating parks <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/planyourvisit\/fee-free-parks-state.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.) If you decide to purchase the $80 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/planyourvisit\/passes.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">America the Beautiful<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> pass, you\u2019ll also be able to skip the payment line at any park, any time. Senior citizens, veterans, families of fourth graders, and citizens with disabilities are also eligible to receive discounted parks passes year round.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you&#8217;re ready to plan your trip, visit REI&#8217;s <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Camping Project<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to help you find bookable campsites and pick out epic excursions like hiking, trail-running, and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Read more<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/tag\/national-park-visitor-guide\">National Park Visitor Guides<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/news\/the-story-behind-indianas-first-national-park\">The Story Behind Indiana&#8217;s First National Park<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/camp\/proficient-in-parks\">Proficient in Parks: How some families are using the Junior Ranger Program to educate their kids<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The National Park Service (NPS) recently announced that there will be five free-entrance days in America\u2019s national parks in 2020. Those dates include: Monday, January 20 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) Saturday, April 18 (the first day of National Park Week, as well as National Junior Ranger Day) Tuesday, August 25 (National Park Service\u2019s Birthday) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":95687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[685],"tags":[727,113,692,656,552],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-95684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-latest-posts","tag-national-park","tag-news","tag-public-lands","tag-rei-members"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/news\/fee-free-entrance-days-for-national-parks-in-2020","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"You Won\u2019t Need to Pay an Entrance Fee at Our National Parks on These Days in 2020","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/fee-free-entrance-days-for-national-parks-in-2020","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/fee-free-entrance-days-for-national-parks-in-2020"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/11\/Fee-Free-Entrance-Day_11-13-19_Orme_080519_3943.gif?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/11\/Fee-Free-Entrance-Day_11-13-19_Orme_080519_3943.gif?fit=2000%2C1736"},"articleSection":"News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jessica Bernhard"}],"creator":["Jessica Bernhard"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["latest posts","national parks","news","public lands","rei members"],"dateCreated":"2019-11-14T16:58:47Z","datePublished":"2019-11-14T16:58:47Z","dateModified":"2021-07-15T19:05:19Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"You Won\\u2019t Need to Pay an Entrance Fee at Our National Parks on These Days in 2020\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/news\\\/fee-free-entrance-days-for-national-parks-in-2020\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/news\\\/fee-free-entrance-days-for-national-parks-in-2020\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/Fee-Free-Entrance-Day_11-13-19_Orme_080519_3943.gif?resize=150%2C150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/Fee-Free-Entrance-Day_11-13-19_Orme_080519_3943.gif?fit=2000%2C1736\"},\"articleSection\":\"News\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Jessica Bernhard\"}],\"creator\":[\"Jessica Bernhard\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Uncommon Path \\u2013 An REI Co-op Publication\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[\"latest posts\",\"national parks\",\"news\",\"public lands\",\"rei members\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2019-11-14T16:58:47Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-14T16:58:47Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-15T19:05:19Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rei.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/11\/Fee-Free-Entrance-Day_11-13-19_Orme_080519_3943.gif?fit=2000%2C1736","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95684"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170810,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95684\/revisions\/170810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95684"},{"taxonomy":"internal-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-tag?post=95684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}