Looking for something to do this weekend that’s both outdoorsy and free? In honor of Veterans Day, you can visit any one of the National Park Service’s 425 properties on Saturday, November 11, 2023, for free.
While many of the NPS’s parks are free year-round, the organization will be waiving entrance fees to the more than 100 parks that normally come with an admission price for the final time this year. Which means that you can pay a visit to the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Yosemite, or Yellowstone National Parks without actually paying for the visit.
It’s the final opportunity to enjoy free park admission in 2023, which makes this weekend the perfect time to get out and explore the national parks in your area—or to plan a road trip to one you’ve never visited before.
West Virginia’s New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, which spans 70,000 acres, is the Park Service’s most recently designated national park. In addition to being home to one of the oldest rivers on Earth, the land surrounding it features a forest and sheer cliffs surrounding a 53-mile river perfect for water sports like kayaking and whitewater rafting. The park, which officially became a part of the National Park Service in 2020, is a popular destination for rock climbers, mountain bikers, campers, and hunters.
The National Park Service maintains 425 designated NPS areas—including parks, battlefields, historic sites, seashores, and more—that span more than 85 million acres across every state, plus the Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
A version of this story ran in 2021; it has been updated for 2023.
This article was originally published on www.mentalfloss.com as All National Parks Are Offering Free Admission This Saturday.
