If you plan ahead, you can save as $50 per visit on your outdoor adventures this year.
Here are the dates that every national park in the country will be free to visit in 2025. You don’t need a pass, but a few do require advance reservations. (See below)
- Jan. 20: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- April 19: First day of National Park Week
- June 19: Juneteenth National Independence Day
- Aug. 4: Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act
- Sept. 27: National Public Lands Day
- Nov. 11: Veterans Day
Visitors walk between two giant sequoia trees not from from the General Sherman tree at Sequoia National Park. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
So what about these reservations? Well, the National Park Service has instituted a reservation policy at certain popular parks during peak periods only, to keep visitors from being stuck in long traffic jams trying to get in. This is a good thing, right?
You’ll need to go to recreation.gov and search for the park you want and “timed entry” to find the reservation information.
You only have to get a reservation during the peak visitor periods, which vary according to the park. For example, at Arches National Park in Utah, you’ll need a timed entry reservation this year starting in April, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. If you can’t get a reservation or you don’t want to pay the $2 reservation fee on recreation.gov, then you can just enter the park before 7 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Or walk or bike in. Occasionally, like at Yosemite during holidays, the reservation policy is in effect 24 hours per day, so read up.
Keep in mind that these free days are really popular, so you’ll want to get there at dawn anyway, so you’ll have it more to yourselves.
But where to go? Well, you could trek up to Yosemite, Sequoia or Pinnacles national parks, if you want to stay in California.
If you’ve never been to Pinnacles National Park, I recommend checking it out. It’s a bit of a hidden gem.
However, when I take advantage of these days, I head out to Joshua Tree, in the desert toward Palm Springs.
I recommend going before the crack of dawn — I know, that’s just insane, but hear me out. If you leave your house in the dark, you can watch the sun come up over the desert, which is always dramatic.
Then, eat the snack you brought with you (you did bring a snack and water, didn’t you?) and hit a couple of trails. You can get a park map from the ranger, or if you’re there even before the rangers get there, you can download one on NPS.gov.
And make sure you have gas and food and water, because there are no facilities inside the park.
When the rest of the hikers start pouring into the park, that’s your cue to leave, have a nice relaxing lunch and then drive home, maybe with a swim stop at Desert Hot Springs.
Enjoy! nps.gov/planyourvisit/fee-free-parks.htm