Visiting US national parks isn’t cheap. If you want to get the best deal possible, the America the Beautiful Pass, currently $80, gets you into all national parks plus over 2,000 federal recreation sites. But some folks don’t get out enough to take advantage of that deal. Sure there are a handful of fee-free recreation days each year, but then you have some tight scheduling to do and you have to deal with the ensuing crowds. The next best thing? National parks that are always free. Yup. They exist.
Some of these parks, like Great Smoky Mountain Mountains National Park, are free due to their massive size (over 522,000 acres) and major highways passing through. Others, like Mammoth Cave, Biscayne, and Channel Islands may not cost any money, but it’s hard to get to them or see the main attraction (Mammoth Cave, coral reefs), without paying for a tour or ferry. Then you have extreme, remote parks like Kenai Fjords and Katmai (which cost plenty to get to but don’t charge an entrance fee), and glorified city parks like Hot Springs, Gateway Arch, and Cuyahoga, which are a delightful mix of free and accessible.
But no matter what kind of adventurer you are, there’s a (free) park for you. So get out there and wander on already!
