My Life Outdoors

Next weekend marks the beginning of National Parks week. Starting Saturday April 16th through Sunday April 24th the majority of National Parks will be waiving admission fees. Both Guadalupe and Big Bend National Parks in Texas will have free admission. Guadalupe National Park said there is no need to check in at the ranger office, simply head over to the fee station and get your free admission pass to hang in the car. Big Bend National Park will have someone posted at all entrances handing out free admission passes.

Looking out over Big Bend’s South Rim

The Free admission does not apply to camping or backcountry use permits. Which you would only need if spending the night, or riding houses in the backcountry.

100’s of other parks across the nation are also featuring free admission. For a full list of participating parks please see the NPS Free Entrance Days web-page. So if you want to take advantage of this opportunity and save a little money. April 16-24 is a great time to visit a national park.

That’s assuming you can afford the Gas to get to your local national park and that they aren’t closed due to government shut down. The national average Gas Price is $3.59 a gallon…which may make this one of the most expensive times to visit your national parks. And lets hope your local park is still open after this Friday when government funding runs out forcing partial government shutdown. Lawmakers should know later today weather or not a budget deal will be accepted. If its not National Parks will be the first thing to close.

I don’t mean to be pessimistic…but this years National Parks Week has a lot of obstacles to work around. Lets all hope we get to spend some quality time outside…for free!

Related Post:
Could the National Park System be Shut Down?

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