Today the National Park Service by generously offering visitors free access to the parks it protects.
Historian Wallace Stegner might have put it best when he said that “national parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” From the time Congress (NPS) in 1916 until today, the organization has grown to oversee 401 parks across the United States.
Every , park visitors get a birthday gift: waived fees to all 401 of those beautiful and wild places (although the good old NPS that only 133 of those parks usually charge an entrance fee to begin with). NPS also offers to help you locate the parks closest to you or that offer certain activities, from fishing to horseback riding.
We can’t wait to see how NPS tops this gesture on its 100th birthday in 2016. Until then, we’re booking it to the for some celebratory explorations (and referencing this to possibly avoid the birthday crowds).