National Park Service waives entrance fees for parks Jan. 19

Thinking of taking a day-trip (or trip-trip) for the upcoming three-day weekend? Good news! According to the National Park Service, all national parks across the country are waiving entrance fees on Monday, Jan. 19 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Our neighbor the West-ish, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is always free. But check out some historically appropriate suggestions from the NPS for Monday:

WASHINGTON – All national parks across the country will waive their entrance fees on Monday, January 19 to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. “We honor Dr. King and the tremendous impact of his life and teachings on the world,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “He moved hearts and minds through his words and actions. And his vision continues to inspire us to make positive changes in our communities.” Visit Dr. King’s birthplace, home, church, and grave at Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Georgia; walk in his footsteps on the 54-mile long Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Alabama where he led the 1965 Voting Rights March; and stand where he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Other national parks that commemorate the Civil Rights Movement include Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site in  Arkansas, Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Monument in California, Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Kansas, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC. Several national parks are among the sites nationwide that will sponsor Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service volunteer events. Volunteers can help with environmental or maintenance projects taking place at Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania, Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska, and Anacostia Park in Washington, DC. In addition to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the National Park Service will waive entrance fees on eight other days in 2015 – February 14 to 16 (Presidents’ Day weekend), April 18 & 19 (opening weekend of National Park week), August 25 (the National Park Service’s 99th birthday), September 26 (National Public Lands Day), and November 11 (Veterans Day). A variety of park passes are available for purchase online and in parks. There are also passes that provide free admission for people with permanent disabilities and active duty military members and their dependents. All the details can be found here. www.nps.gov   About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 405 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.

The U.S. Forest Service and National Forests in North Carolina also announced waived fees at nearby recreational parks. Here’s what they had to suggest:

ASHEVILLE, N.C., Jan. 14, 2015 – The U.S. Forest Service National Forests in North Carolina will waive fees at two day-use recreation sites on Jan. 19, 2015, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The agency will waive fees at the following recreation sites in western North Carolina:
Whitewater Falls, Nantahala National Forest
Whiteside Mountain, Nantahala National Forest
The fee-free program is in cooperation with other Federal land management agencies under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.

Click here for more information.