U.S. National Park Service Free Entrance Days

As of March 2012, there are 397 national parks covering over 84 million acres in every state (except Delaware), District of Columbia and U.S. territories.  The majority of these parks do not charge entrance fees (though parking fees often apply). But for the 100 or so national parks that do have entrance fees, there are a number of designated "fee free" days each year.

Here are the National Park Service Free Entrance Days during 2012

• January 14-16 (Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday weekend)
• April 21-29 (National Park Week)
• June 9 (Get Outdoors Day)
• September 29 (National Public Lands Day)
• November 10-12 (Veterans Day weekend)

The parks that normally charge a fee that are free on the above dates are listed at www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparksbystate.htm. Parks in California that are in this category include:

• Cabrillo National Monument
• Death Valley National Park
• Joshua Tree National Park
• Lassen Volcanic National Park
• Lava Beds National Monument
• Muir Woods National Monument
• Pinnacles National Monument
• Sequoia National Park
• Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
• Yosemite National Park

Plenty of other amazing national treasures are on this list around the country, like Grand Canyon National Park.

And of course here are links to the two national parks in Ventura County that are always worth exploring:

• Channel Islands National Park
• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

For more information about the National Park Service, visit www.nps.gov.