The National Park Service will offer free admission to parks and other locations on Saturday to celebrate National Park Week and Earth Day.
National Parks Week runs from April 20th to April 28th. This means our parks, programs and partners will put on events and activities to promote the outdoors and our cultural heritage. It coincides with Earth Day on Monday.
To kick off the celebration and encourage people to visit the new park, admission fees will be waived at the NPS site on Saturday, April 20th. Fees apply for camping, boat launches, transportation, special tours, and other activities.
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Not all national parks have entrance fees, and more than 300 of the 400 national parks are free, while paid national parks can cost between $10 and $35 per person. This revenue supports park renovations, ranger programs, wildlife habitat restoration, maintenance, and more.
Texas is home to 14 national parks, including the popular Big Bend National Park, Padre Island National Seashore, and Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
San Antonio has four NPS locations: Mission Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan, and Espada, located on the south side of the San Antonio River. The Mission is also Texas’ only UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Admission to the Mission is free every day of the year. The following national parks in Texas have admission fees:
Each day of National Parks Week has a specific theme. The theme days for 2024 are as follows (descriptions provided by NPS):
Saturday April 20th: Discovery. What will you discover? New places, new interesting facts, new activities… To kick off National Parks Week and encourage you to make new discoveries, admission will be free on April 20th. Sunday, April 21st: Volunteer. Use your time and talents as a national park volunteer. Find opportunities to volunteer at single events or long-term positions.
Tuesday, April 23rd: Innovation. Our nation’s history of innovation is preserved in our national parks. Also, learn about the innovative projects happening in the parks and through our programs today.
Wednesday, April 24: Workers’ Wednesday. Meet our amazing people: employees, interns, fellows, volunteers, contractors, partners, and more. Please consider joining our team.
Friday, April 26: Community Connections. Learn about the important work our programs and partners are doing in communities across the country, inside and outside park boundaries.
Saturday, April 27th: Junior Ranger Day. Become a Junior Ranger for kids (and kids at heart) with in-person or online activities to learn about special places and topics. You might also earn a Junior Ranger badge. Sunday, April 28: Art in the Park. Home to a wealth of art, past and present, discover the muse that creates art within the park. Also, learn about preserving and practicing the arts in your community through our programs and the work of our partners.
Click here to learn more about NPS’s Earth Day and National Parks Week.
If you can’t make it to a national park on Saturday, NPS is offering additional free admission days in 2024.
Those who want to visit national parks several days a year can purchase the $80 America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, which covers admission to more than 2,000 federal recreation areas and national parks.
NPS also offers various discounts to certain populations, including military members, fourth graders, individuals with permanent disabilities, and senior citizens.
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