Overview
- The 2026 free-entry list includes Presidents Day, Memorial Day, three days over the July 4 weekend, the NPS 110th anniversary on Aug. 25, Constitution Day on Sept. 17, Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday on Oct. 27, and Veterans Day.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth are no longer free-entry dates, reversing recent practice that had waived fees on those civil-rights observances.
- Free admission on designated days now applies only to U.S. residents under the revised policy.
- International visitors will pay the standard fee plus a $100 per-person surcharge at 11 of the most-visited parks, and a $250 annual pass for nonresidents replaces the $80 resident pass on Jan. 1, 2026.
- NPS also removed several prior free days, including National Park Week’s opening day, the Bureau of Land Management anniversary, Great American Outdoors Day, National Public Lands Day, and the first Sunday of National Wildlife Refuge Week, drawing criticism from conservation, tourism, and civil-rights advocates.