The Best Ways To Get Into U.S. National Parks For Free

Exploring America's beautiful national parks can be a fantastic way to take a break from day to day life and get out into nature without spending too much money on a vacation. If the ticket fees are still making you hesitate, however, there are a few ways that you can actually get admission to national parks, from the hugely popular Great Smoky Mountains National Park (pictured) to the wildly underrated and uncrowded Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, for free. You might already qualify for a free pass and not know it, but if you don't, you can visit any park at no expense on a few special holidays, or head out to one of the beautiful parks that simply don't charge admission.

First, you should check if you already qualify for free admission. If you are currently in the U.S. military, both you and any dependents you may have can get a Military Annual Pass, and Gold Star families and veterans are both entitled to Military Lifetime Passes. The Access Pass is available to those with permanent disabilities. If you have volunteered 250 hours of your time to federal recreation sites you can get a Volunteer Pass. If you know any fourth graders, they get in for free, too. All you have to do to claim your free pass is submit proof that you qualify and you can head out to any national park — and a lot of other natural spaces, too.

While you might usually need to work out some clever tricks to visit the iconic Yellowstone National Park in the summer without blowing your budget, Yellowstone and all the other parks and natural sites managed by the National Park Service are open to the public for free on a few select dates. You'll still have to pay for any ranger-led tours you might want to take and your campsite, if you're hoping to spend the night there, but admission will be free.

If you want to have a rugged adventure in Alaska's snowy Denali National Park in the winter (pictured), you can go for free on January 15 to celebrate the birthday of American hero Martin Luther King, Jr. If you're hoping to admire the eruption of wildflowers in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, you might get a chance on April 20, the first day of National Park Week.

You should definitely skip Death Valley National Park in the summer for your own safety, but you can enjoy a gorgeous summer day in any other national park on June 19, Juneteenth National Independence Day, or the anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act of 2020 on August 4. If you head to Yosemite National Park on Veterans Day, November 11, you can witness an explosion of colorful autumn leaves.

While many national parks charge entrance fees (either on a per person or per vehicle basis) the majority of National Park Service sites are actually free. In fact, some of the very best national parks that the United States has to offer are completely free to visit on any day of the year. While you do have to pay for parking, the most popular park in the United States, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, has no entrance fees. Alaska's Katmai National Park, which is home to the Internet's favorite fat bears, may be tricky to visit because it's so remote, but once you do get there, you won't have to pay to get in.

Whether you're looking to explore forests of California's redwoods at Redwood National Park (above) or take in the breathtaking views of one of the world's oldest rivers at New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, you can explore the most incredible sites in the country without paying a fee. If you love your adventure there, you can always make any size donation you like directly to a national park through the National Park Service or to a foundation associated with protecting them.