Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation of any size.
The National Parks Service has removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from its list of days with free admission — and added Flag Day, which coincides with President Donald Trump’s birthday.
About a quarter of the 400 federally managed parks collect an entrance fee from visitors. Those fees are waived multiple times per year, generally on federal holidays — including Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day weekend, Constitution Day, and Veterans Day — during which time there tends to be more visitors.
Parks also offer free entry on August 25, the date the National Parks Service was founded, and October 27, the birthday of Teddy Roosevelt, who is viewed as the father of the National Park System.
Previously, fees were also waived on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. However, the National Parks Service recently removed those federal holidays from its list of free entry days — and added Flag Day, a non-federal holiday which coincides with Trump’s birthday, June 14.
Critics expressed outrage over the change.
“How is cutting MLK Day and Juneteenth anything but racist?” podcaster Michelangelo Signorile said in a post on Bluesky.
American history professor Manisha Sinha also noted the absurdity of the changes.
“No sitting president has had their birthday declared as a free day at the park,” Sinha said in an interview with ABC News.
Sinha added that “the reasoning behind this change is a little mysterious because it will not benefit most visitors to these parks,” many of whom visit on federal holidays, when they have time off from work.
In that same ABC News segment, pastor and activist Jamal Bryant also panned the changes in fee-free dates.
Said Bryant:
This is a slap in the face, not just to African Americans but to Americans at large. The narcissism unleashed — to take it away from Dr. King and laud it upon himself — says that America is going backwards and is in tremendous danger.
Tyrhee Moore, executive director of Soul Trak Outdoors, a nonprofit that “connects communities of color to outdoor spaces while also building a coalition of diverse outdoor leaders,” spoke to SF Gate about the changes.
“This policy shift is deeply concerning. Removing free-entry days on MLK Day and Juneteenth sends a troubling message about who our national parks are for,” Moore said. “These holidays hold profound cultural and historical significance for Black communities, and eliminating them as access points feels like a direct targeting of the very groups who already face systemic barriers to the outdoors.”
The free admission date changes come as the National Parks Service has also changed its fee policy for international visitors, coinciding with numerous other policies from the Trump administration targeting immigrants and foreign travelers. Whereas free entry days and fee rates previously applied equally to all national park visitors, rates for the most visited parks will be higher for international tourists and non-U.S. residents starting in January.
The America the Beautiful pass, which covers fees at thousands of recreational locations across the U.S., costs $80 for residents, but will be $250 for nonresidents. International tourists will not be able to take advantage of free entry days, the National Parks Service has said.
The change in prices for foreign visitors could be a disincentive that harms the economic security of the parks themselves. In 2018, for example, more than 14 million international visitors traveled to a National Park. In 2024, Yellowstone National Park estimated that around one in eight of all visitors were from outside the U.S.
Media that fights fascism
Truthout is funded almost entirely by readers — that’s why we can speak truth to power and cut against the mainstream narrative. But independent journalists at Truthout face mounting political repression under Trump.
We rely on your support to survive McCarthyist censorship. Please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation.