National parks admission is free on Veterans Day

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is America's second-oldest national park.

WASHINGTON - In observance of Veterans Day, the National Park Service is waiving entrance fees for everyone on Monday, Nov. 11, and is encouraging Americans to explore the country’s hundreds of protected sites.

The reduced admission is one of six days that the NPS previously announced were free for all visitors.

Rangers warn that even though entrance fees are waived, other charges, such as timed entry, reservation fees, and charges for camping and other activities, will still apply.

"We’re excited for members of the public to discover national parks on Veterans Day, and especially invite current military and their dependents, veterans, and Gold Star Families to get a Military Pass to get free entrance to parks any day," Chuck Sams, a director of the National Park Service, said in a statement. "As a veteran, it is fantastic to see other veterans and their loved ones explore parks, learn about our nation’s history, and find peace in the outdoors."

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For those eligible, the Military Pass can be obtained at any of the 63 national parks.

The typical entrance fee ranges between $10 and $35, with 80-100% of the funds staying in the park where the money is collected.

The agency encourages more frequent park visitors to purchase the ‘America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass,’ which costs around $80 but provides annual access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites across the country.

Grand Teton National Park is a 310,000 acre park in northwestern Wyoming bordering Idaho to its west and Yellowstone National Park to its north. This entry point is north of Jackson Wyoming on US Highway 89. (Photo by: Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) ( )

YOSEMITE VALLEY, CA - OCTOBER 05: The iconic Half Dome is viewed from Glacier Point at sunset on October 5, 2019, in Yosemite National Park, California. With the arrival of fall, the tens of thousands of monthly visitors begins to drop off but the usual weekend traffic congestion and on-going road construction projects continue to provide challenges for getting around in the Park. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images) ( )

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CA - AUGUST 5: A long line of cars creeps slowly to the north Highway 120 entrance of Yosemite National Park as viewed on August 5, 2023, just outside Yosemite National Park, California. Large summer crowds in the Park have caused congestion throughout the Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows, with lines of vehicles up to two hours long at all three of the main entrances. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

Tunnel Tree, tunnel cut through a sequoia, Yosemite National Park. (Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Stunning timelapse footage showing the Milky Way in the night sky at Zion National Park, Utah, was posted to Facebook by the US Department of Interior on May 17. (US Department of the Interior)

Bison graze at Yellowstone National Park in October 2021. (Robert Ray/FOX Weather)

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Every year, nearly 300 million people visit the more than 400 national park sites across the U.S.

The Veterans Day holiday is scheduled to be the last free entrance day of the year, with the next one expected to occur on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Jan. 2025.

Appalachia’s Blue Ridge Parkway, Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park and California’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area are usually the most visited destinations, but a series of tropical cyclones in 2024 impacted parks from the Southeast into the mid-Atlantic.