U.S. National Parks announces a free gateway in 2023

Friday, December 16, 2022

A little motivation to plan a trip you always wanted to take is sometimes all that you need.

Every year, in luck the U.S National Park Service favors some incentive across the calendar by setting a few free entrance days for all the sites the agency manages.

The intention is that no matter the economic circumstances, the national park system would be made available to everyone.

The endpoint is that about a quarter of the country’s 400 or so national parks, monuments, historical sites, seashores, forests, and other areas normally charge entrance fees. But towards 20, 23, for 5 days, those parks would charge nothing at all for admission.

Notably, back in 2016, the country got a whopping 16 free days in honor of the NPS centenary. But the number significantly dropped in subsequent years, until setting around five – the number of free days in 2023.

Five is however better than nothing. For many travelers, knowing a free entrance day is coming, they can intend to finally take that road trip to visit one of America’s most talked-about nature preserves or historical sites.

The NPS free entrance days in 2023 are :

January 16 (Monday): Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
April 22 (Saturday): First day of National Park Week.
August 4 (Friday): Anniversary of the great American Outdoors Act.
September 23 (Saturday): National Public Lands Day
November 11 (Saturday): Veterans Day.

Make your calendar, and keep this objective in mind although the NPS has the power to suspend the fees it collects, the agency cannot force vendors and concessionaires to suspend theirs.

So once the free entrance is granted, you might still have to pay for things like camping, boat launches, transportation, parking, and tours.

Provided if you can’t make one of the dates when the gates are wide open, consider buying an America the Beautiful annual pass. For a charge of $80, you will get an entry to everything in the NPS system for the entire year.

Moreover, if you’re age 6 or older, that $80 covers the rest of your life.

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