Good news for budget travelers, the National Park Service announced today that it will waive admission fees on 17 selected dates throughout 2011, encouraging all Americans to make a New Year’s resolution to visit a national park this year.
“Many people have made resolutions to spend more quality time with loved ones and to get outdoors and unplug in 2011,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “There’s no better place than a national park to help keep those resolutions. Parks offer superb recreational opportunities, making them perfect places to enjoy our beautiful land, history and culture, and nurture a healthy lifestyle.”
Salazar noted that with 394 national parks throughout the country, most Americans live within a few hours of a park, making them places for easy and affordable vacations any time of the year.
“In these tough economic times, our fee-free days will give families many opportunities to enjoy our nation’s heritage and natural beauty in meaningful and affordable ways,” he said.
The 2011 fee-free dates will be the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 15-17), National Park Week (April 16-24), the first day of summer (June 21), National Public Lands Day (September 24), and the weekend of Veterans Day (November 11-13).
The first fee free days are centered on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday (January 15 - 17, 2011).
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Celebrate National Park Week, April 17-25, 2010!
If you’re planning a trip to the nation’s capital, you may be able to name a number of stops on your itinerary without even cracking a guidebook. Memorials to presidents; museums devoted to natural history, air travel and space exploration, and the visual arts; the White House; the U.S. Capitol—these sites or some combination of them draw many visitors. But you might look at your schedule and wonder if several days of marble monuments, glass display cases, rooms of paintings, and iconic buildings will have you hankering for a break.
Slate a day or two to get away from the Mall and explore a much different national park—a pocket of America’s great outdoors within the boundaries of the District of Columbia. Rock Creek Park, located in northwest D.C., offers a mixture of scenery, tranquility, adventure, and activity.
Among Rock Creek’s slopes, trees, and slabs of rock, and near its eponymous body of water, you can ride on horseback, take a run, bicycle, or rollerblade. This week’s Getaway destination also beckons to hikers and kayakers, although, equipped with multi-use paths, it more than accommodates those seeking the proverbial stroll in the park.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Explore North America with Abercrombie & Kent
What began fifty years ago on a family road trip to national parks across the country led to a lifelong fascination for writer Dayton Duncan, resulting in “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” a six-part, 12-hour documentary by Ken Burns, which begins airing on PBS stations September 27. Filmed in some of nature’s most spectacular locales, the series is sure to inspire other families to visit all 58 U.S. national parks. Abercrombie & Kent celebrates these national treasures with new itineraries in North America for 2010, featuring several of the national parks showcased in the series including Denali National Park in Alaska and Glacier National Park, where “Going-to-the-Sun” Road is said to be “the most beautiful 50 miles in the world.”
Alaska: A Backcountry Adventure – New for 2010 
Glimpse Mount McKinley, North America’s highest peak, en route to your lodge in Denali National Park, home to large caribou, moose, wolves, Dall sheep and grizzly bear. Travel aboard the Alaska GoldStar Dome train to Talkeetna for a river canyon trip by jetboat. Visit the homestead of 4-Time Iditarod Champion, Martin Buser. Enjoy a scenic glacier cruise in Prince William Sound, keeping watch for glaciers calving and a variety of marine wildlife, including whales.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".