Are US national parks free? Entry to all national parks is free on these five days in 2023.

Eve Chen, USA TODAY
·1 min read

For a few days each year, every national park in America is free to visit. That includes bucket-list destinations like Grand Canyon and Yosemite but also hundreds of other national monuments, seashores, historic sites and more.

Less than a quarter of them have entry fees, but those that do charge up to $20 per person or up to $35 per vehicle.

"National parks are really amazing places and we want everyone to experience them,"  National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said in a statement. "The entrance fee-free days encourage people to discover the beauty, history and inspiration awaiting them in more than 400 national parks throughout the country."

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National park free entry days for 2023

  • Jan. 16 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

  • April 22 – First day of National Park Week

  • Aug. 4 – Great American Outdoors Day

  • Sept. 23 – National Public Lands Day

  • Nov. 11 – Veterans Day

Fees for things like camping and fishing will still be in place. Additionally, parks operated in partnership with outside parties may charge other types of fees. For instance, Waco Mammoth charges an access fee for its dig shelter. That park is managed by the Park Service, the City of Waco, Texas, and Baylor University. Visitors can find site-specific details on park websites.

Visitors look up at the Grizzly Giant tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias on May 21, 2018 at Yosemite National Park.
Visitors look up at the Grizzly Giant tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias on May 21, 2018 at Yosemite National Park.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: National parks will offer free entry these five days in 2023

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