National Parks Drop Their Fees
<!--[endif]-->Years ago after I bought my first real convertible (my first car was a ’68 MGB but it doesn’t count because it sat in the garage more often that it flew down the road), I took a vacation and drove from Houston to L.A. to visit my father. It was an ambitious trip by car, including stops at the Fort Davis observatory in west Texas, Arizona Meteor Crater, Route 66, then Hoover Dam, Vegas, and the Grand Canyon on the way home. It was an eventful trip, to say the least. I was attacked by wild hogs, I witnessed the tarantula migration in west TX (viewed from my tent with a tent stake in my hand), got a speeding ticket in New Mexico for doing 100mph, and got kicked out of a Vegas casino for “not gambling.”
One thing that stands out the most about that trip was the lesson I learned about our national parks. I was stunned to learn that there was a $22 fee to enter the park and to see the canyon! I was a U.S. citizen and this was my soil… I had no plans to spend the night or to camp, I just wanted to drive my little car through the winding roads and stop for a glimpse and some pictures of one of our country’s icons. Sorry, you can’t do that for less than $20. It could have been worse, camper trucks and trailers had to pay steeper fees and people who camped overnight paid more still.
Well, as bad as the economy is right now, our national parks are feeling the pinch. Higher gas prices, corporate vacation cuts, etc, have taken a huge bite out of the proceeds from those park fees. This works for you, if you’re one of the fortunate few who can take such a vacation this year! It appears that one sign of tough times in the travel industry is: Typically jammed national parks are doing away with entrance fees on some summer Saturdays and Sundays. Park concessions are tossing in freebies and discounts, too.
The National Park Service's "Fee-Free Weekends" start Saturday and Sunday and also are announced for July 18-19 and Aug. 15-16. For a list of national parks, visit nps.gov.
Affiliated deals include a second ticket at half off for Denali National Park's natural history tour in Alaska (information: denaliparkresorts.com); 50% off a Sunday stay at the Skyland Resort atop Skyline Drive in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park (visitshenandoah.com) if you stay Saturday night; a child's ticket free on a guided bus tour in Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park (visitmesaverde.com), with two adult paid admissions. Discounts can't be applied to reservations made previously.
So… this is definitely one of the cheapest vacations you (and your family) could ever take!
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