National Park Service Switches Up Fee-Free Days in 2026—What to Know

This year is set to be a big one for national parks thanks to the United States’ upcoming 250^th anniversary.

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While the Department of the Interior recently announced new hiked fees for foreign visitors to its most popular parks, that’s not the case for Americans. Instead of raised fees, the new program actually announced even more fee-free days in which the country’s most popular and visitable parks don’t cost a dime to enjoy.

But do you know about the latest fee updates and fee-free dates in 2026? The holiday schedule that the National Parks Service will follow this year is slightly different than in recent years.

Here’s what to know.

National Park Service lists out new dates for fee-free visits

The main difference in this year’s fee-free calendar for national parks is that MLK Day and Juneteenth have both been nixed. (Both are federal holidays.) You cannot enter national parks for free on MLK Day (Monday, January 19) or on Juneteenth (Friday, June 19).

Additionally, the first day of National Park Week (Saturday, April 18 – Sunday, April 26), National Public Lands Day (fourth Saturday of September), and the Great American Outdoors Act Day (August 4) have also been removed from the fee-free calendar in recent years. (Fee-free dates aren’t set in stone, in other words.)

In place of these five fee-free dates, you can visit without paying on Flag Day (June 14), which isn’t a federal holiday and coincides with President Donald Trump’s birthday, along with the 110^th birthday of the National Park Service on August 15.

Here’s the full list of fee-free entry days for American citizens:

1. President’s Day (February 16)
2. Memorial Day (May 31)
3. Flag Day & President Donald Trump’s birthday (June 14)
4. Independence Day weekend (July 3–5)
5. 110th Birthday of the National Park Service (August 25)
6. Constitution Day (September 17)
7. Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (October 27)
8. Veterans Day (November 11)