IN THE LAP OF THE GODS: View from Angels Landing in Zion National Park, Utah (Nathan Borchelt)
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the National Park Service will offer three fee-free weekends this summer at 147 of its park units (a further 244 of the country's parks are already free). Parks affected by this announcement include blockbuster names like Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Yosemite National Park (the full list is available here). Speaking at a press conference in Ohio's Cuyahoga National Park, Salazar announced that admission fees will be waived on the weekends of June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16, 2009. The Department of Interior anticipates that the increase in park tourism—and the direct benefits to sagging local economies—will offset the estimated half-million-dollar loss each day in entrance fees.
Start planning your fee-free weekend now with Away.com's Parks & Outdoors Travel Guide, including destination guides, expert advice, photos, trail descriptions, and more.
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Before heading into Glacier National Park, check out daily posts from my trail journal at thetrailhead.ning.com. Today my group hiked through the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
In addition to this continuing saga from a 1987 thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail, I and other members of my network have posted photos, hike and guidebook suggestions from other national parks along America's longest trails.
Posted by: Larry Budd | June 20, 2009 at 09:47 AM
This is really great news. It is a good reason to take the kids on an adventure travel. I'm just hoping that this will not affect the ability of the management to maintain the parks effectively.
Posted by: custom travel experience | June 04, 2009 at 12:17 PM