If you have been looking for just the right excuse to get up and get out to one of Northern California’s prime national parks or monuments, then next weekend may be the perfect time for you and your family to plan an outing to one of the parks. On July 18 &19th the National Park Service (NPS) will be waiving fees to the beautiful California national parks and monuments that currently charge visitors an entrance fee.
The fabulous Yosemite National Park will be among the parks waiving entrance fees for the July weekend. Additional Northern California parks also included in the free admission days: Muir Woods and San Francisco Maritime Historical Park.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar who announced the fee waiver said “During these tough economic times, our national parks provide opportunities for affordable vacations for families.”
Entrance fees for the 147 parks and monuments including Yosemite National Park can range anywhere from $3 to $25, so the NPS is hoping to boost new visitors to the nation’s parks this summer by offering these free entrance fee days. Currently the nation’s other 244 parks are already free and charge no entrance fees to visitors.
The next free entrance fee days this summer will be on the weekend of Aug. 15 & 16, 2009.
Keep in mind that the fee entrance waiver applies only to entrance fees and does not apply to additional charges that may be incurred for camping, reservations, tours or concessions. However, many vendors are offering various discounts for visitors on the entrance fee free days as well. For more information on the parks and free entrance fees you can visit the National Park Service at http://www.nps.gov.
