National Park Service announces fee-free days for 2018; other passes available

Images courtesy of the National Park Service, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — National parks around the country will have four fee-free days in 2018 when visitors will not be charged for entrance to national parks, monuments, recreation areas and historic sites.

The fee-free days in the nation’s national parks for 2018 are the following:

Jan. 15: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

April 21: First day of National Park Week.

Sept. 22: National Public Lands Day.

Nov. 11: Veterans Day.

In Utah, the national parks to waive entrance fees on these dates in 2018 include:

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
Natural Bridges National Monument
Zion National Park

In Arizona, participating national parks include:

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Grand Canyon National Park
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Montezuma Castle National Monument
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Petrified Forest National Park
Pipe Spring National Monument
Saguaro National Park
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
Tonto National Monument
Tumacácori National Historical Park
Tuzigoot National Monument
Walnut Canyon National Monument
Wupatki National Monument

In Nevada, the participating national parks include:

Death Valley National Park
Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Parks and sites across the country participating in the fee-free days are listed by state on the Park Service’s webpage here.

Fee-free days give more families opportunities to visit the nation’s most popular national park sites, the Park Service’s release states, and to enjoy the country’s historical, cultural and natural resources.

Park visitors are reminded that the fee-free designation applies to entrance fees only and does not apply to fees for camping, reservations, tours or use of concessions. Those who plan to spend time in the park beyond the fee-free dates will need to pay the regular entrance fee for the remainder of their stay.

The number of fee-free days designated this year is a sharp decrease in those allotted in recent years – 16 days in 2016 and 10 days in 2017.  However, of the 417 sites within the national park system, only 118 ever require an entrance fee; the rest are free to visitors every day.

Read more: National parks to slash number of free days for visitors

Other passes available

Certain qualifying individuals may obtain free-access passes to all national park sites. These include fourth-graders under the Every Kid in a Park program, active-duty military personnel, citizens with permanent disability and volunteers who perform 250 service hours with certain participating agencies.

The America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass allows unlimited entrance to more than 2,000 federal recreation areas, including all national parks that normally charge an entrance fee. The annual pass is available to everyone for $80. Senior passes are also available for purchase by persons 62 and older, these include a lifetime pass for $80 or an annual pass for $20.

See criteria and details on the Park Service’s available passes webpage.

Park entrance stations will have the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass and Senior Passes available for those who wish to purchase them.

Agencies participating in the interagency passes programs include the following:

Resources

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

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