Dec. 5, 2025Up to date Dec. 6, 2025, 11:59 a.m. ET
In 2026, People will get free admission to nationwide parks on President Donald Trump‘s birthday however now not on Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in response to the Nationwide Park Service web site.
Beforehand, the Nationwide Park Service included these two federal holidays amongst its free-entry days for round 100 park websites.
Federally acknowledged in 2021 underneath the Biden Administration, Juneteenth has been celebrated for greater than a century and a half. The day commemorates the ultimate finish of slavery in Accomplice states simply after the tip of the Civil Struggle.
The NPS additionally added extra free-admission days for subsequent yr – calling them “patriotic fee-free days” – corresponding to Trump’s birthday on June 14, July 4th weekend and the one hundred and tenth Birthday of NPS.
The Division of the Inside didn’t instantly reply to USA TODAY’s request for remark.
The transfer is one in every of a number of for NPS underneath the government order designed to “enable extra People to go to nationwide parks” and likewise reduce on DEI insurance policies. Just lately, NPS introduced an “America-first” initiative that might cost a further $100 per individual onto international vacationers with out an annual cross to enter the 11 most-visited nationwide parks beginning Jan. 1.
Beginning subsequent yr, the free days will solely apply to U.S. residents and residents, in response to the NPS web site.
“These insurance policies be sure that U.S. taxpayers, who already assist the Nationwide Park System, proceed to get pleasure from reasonably priced entry, whereas worldwide guests contribute their justifiable share to sustaining and enhancing our parks for future generations,” Inside Secretary Doug Burgum stated in a information launch.
Here is what vacationers ought to know.
Which days are nationwide parks free in 2026?
- President’s Day: Feb. 16
- Memorial Day: Might 31
- Flag Day/President Donald Trump’s birthday: June 14
- Independence Day weekend: July 3–5
- one hundred and tenth Birthday of the Nationwide Park Service: Aug. 25
- Structure Day: Sept. 17
- Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday: Oct. 27
- Veterans Day: Nov. 11
How a lot does it value to go to nationwide parks?
Some nationwide parks are free whereas others cost an entry payment that is usually not more than $35 per car.
Contributing: Eve Chen, USA TODAY
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