Orlando Sentinel (Sunday)

Visit any national park for free on 6 dates in 2021

- By Laurie Baratti

Of the more than 400 national parks, monuments, historical sites, seashores, trails, rivers, lakes and other public lands managed by theU.S. National Park Service, roughly one-quarter usually charge admission fees.

That’s over 100 fascinatin­g sites scattered across 36 states, including some of the mostwell-attended natural reserves in the country— Yellowston­e, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, GrandTeton, RockyMount­ain, Everglades, Zion and more. Many of them normally charge entry fees of up to $35 per vehicle, according to Frommer’s.

But, each year, the federal government designates several dayswhen entrance fees arewaived for all visitors at every single NPSsite. The number of free-admission days varies fromyear to year. For 2021, six fee-free dates have been announced:

Jan. 18: Birthday of MartinLuth­er King Jr.

April 17: First day of National ParkWeek

Aug. 4: One-year anniversar­y of theGreat American OutdoorsAc­t

Aug. 25: National Park Service’s 105th birthday

Sept. 25: National Public LandsDay

Nov. 11: VeteransDa­y Thewaiver applies to admission fees only, and won’t cover charges for other amenities such as campsites, boat launches, transporta­tion, parking, special tours or other activities (many of which are operated by private vendors).

Since theCOVID-19 pandemic has inspired Americans to prioritize social distancing and escape into the great outdoors, national parks have become go-to destinatio­ns during 2020— a trend that promises to continue into 2021.

 ?? KARENBLEIE­R/GETTY-AFP2012 ?? The sun hits the tips of the GrandTeton­s in GrandTeton National Park.
KARENBLEIE­R/GETTY-AFP2012 The sun hits the tips of the GrandTeton­s in GrandTeton National Park.

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