National Park Service to offer free admission on 3 weekends

POSTED: 01:06 p.m. EDT, Jun 02, 2009

The National Park Service will offer three fee-free weekends this summer, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced this morning during a news conference at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

''During these tough economic times, our national parks provide opportunities for affordable vacations for families,'' Salazar said. ''I encourage everyone to visit one of our nation's crown jewels this summer and especially to take advantage of the three free-admission weekends.''

There are 391 national parks located in 49 states.

The 147 National Park Service sites across the country that charge admission will waive those fees during the weekends of June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16, Salazar said.

Many park partners, including tour operators, hotels, restaurants, gift shops, and other vendors will offer additional discounts and special promotions on those dates, he said.

For more information, go to http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm.