Bad news for lovers of the amazing parks, historic sites and landmarks operated by the National Park Service.
FREE admission days have been slashed from 16 in past years to just five in 2019 – and the first one is cancelled because of the partial US Governnment shutdown.
Some NPS sites are being kept open by public and private donations.
National Park Service sites open include:
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York City
- New York State and private donations are paying to keep these two important sites open
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta
- Delta Airlines Foundation is paying for 16 days beginning Saturday, January 19, in advance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday and days after the 90th anniversary of his birth, and also includes February’s big football game will have a chance to visit this top historic attraction.
Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia
- Unfortunately, corporate donations which have kept the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall open have run out, and the important historic site is now shut down.
- According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, it is the first time in 36 years that that the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day ceremony will not be held.
The five entrance fee-free days for 2019 will be:
Monday, January 21 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Saturday, April 20 – First Day of National Park Week/National Junior Ranger Day
Sunday, August 25 – National Park Service Anniversary
Saturday, September 28 – National Public Lands Day
Monday, November 11 – Veterans Day
This is a reduction of 75% from past years, when fee-free days included Presidents’ Weekend in February, National Park Week in April, and the entire three-day Veterans Day Weekend.
The reduction of free admission days and admission fee hikes reflects reduced commitment by the Trump Administration to the National Park Service
National Parks admission fee increase
In October 2017, the National Park Service announced a proposal to charge higher fees in peak season, as long as five months per year, at 17 of the most beloved parks, to help pay for maintenance to roads, campgrounds, bathrooms and visitor’s centers.
Under the proposal, entry fees would double or more, depending on how you arrive. Fees would jump from $30 to $70 for private cars, from $25 to $50 for motorcycles, and from $15 to $30 for pedestrians or cyclists.
The price of an annual pass remains unchanged, at $80, the same price as the lifetime pass for seniors, which went up last year from $10 to $80.
In addition to Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Joshua Tree, other parks proposed for the admission price increase include Glacier, Acadia, Olympic and Rocky Mountain.
The proposed price increase is similar to the surge pricing charged by car services like Uber, and higher rates for airline tickets and hotel rooms in peak travel season.
The 17 parks included in the peak season proposal “are the top revenue parks,” according to the National Park Service.
According to the NY Times, 80 percent of an entrance fee is used in the park where it is collected, and the rest is spent to support other national parks, including those with no admission fee.
Normally, 118 of the 417 national parks in the country charge an entrance fee, while the other 299 national parks do not.
The annual $80 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 charge an entrance fee.
In addition to the lifetime senior pass, discounted passes are available for current members of the military, families of fourth grade students, and citizens with disabilities.
Other federal land management agencies offering their own fee-free days in 2018 including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
America’s national parks welcome more than 280 million visitors a year, to world-famous destinations such as Yellowstone and Yosemite, and to national landmarks operated by the National Park Service, including the Statue of Liberty. Or, the moment at Central High School that your child suddenly understands what civil rights are all about.
Importance of America’s national parks to the economy and the environment
They protect and preserve the places we most value, and add enormous economic value to the small towns and family-owned businesses near the parks.
It’s a $30 billion annual benefit to the national economy and supports more than 250,000 jobs, according to the National Park Service.
With more than 84 million acres of spectacular scenery, 17,000 miles of trails, 5,000 miles of shoreline, 27,000 historic and prehistoric structures, and 100 million museum items and an infinite number of authentic American stories to tell, America’s national parks are true superstars.
Find a park near you.
Can you name the parks with the highest and lowest elevations, largest waterfall, deepest lake?
- the country’s highest point, in Denali National Park
- and lowest point, in Death Valley National Park
- deepest lake, Crater Lake National Park
- longest cave, Mammoth Cave National Park
- tallest trees, Redwood National Park
- highest waterfall, Yosemite National Park.
What’s your favorite national park?
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