Overview
- The National Park Service published eight resident-only fee-free dates for 2026: Presidents Day (Feb. 16), Memorial Day (May 25), Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday (June 14), Independence Day weekend (July 3–5), the NPS 110th anniversary (Aug. 25), Constitution Day (Sept. 17), Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (Oct. 27), and Veterans Day (Nov. 11).
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth will not be fee-free in 2026; MLK Day had been on the list since 2018 and Juneteenth was added in 2024.
- Free-entry days will apply only to U.S. citizens and residents, and the $80 America the Beautiful annual pass for Americans remains unchanged.
- Nonresident pricing will rise to a $250 annual pass, with a $100 per-person surcharge at 11 high-visit parks for those without a pass, alongside a shift to digital passes sold and displayed via Recreation.gov.
- Civil-rights groups and several lawmakers criticized the removals, noting the loss of MLK Day’s widely used service activities in parks and arguing the changes diminish recognition of Black history.