All National Parks Free This Weekend

No plans for the long weekend? All National Parks offering free admission for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Weekend

The new year’s first three-day weekend is here and all 397 national parks across the country are waiving admission fees January 14-16 to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Some parks will also be holding special events to honor Dr. King that weekend as well.

Visitors can literally walk in Dr. King’s footsteps at Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site  in Georgia, the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail  in Alabama, or the Lincoln Memorial  in Washington, DC – just a few of the many national parks that have direct ties to Dr. King or the Civil Rights movement.

So whether your New Year’s Resolution is to get out and exercise or spend quality time with family and friends, there are activities to suit everyone.  The parks offer a wealth of compelling experiences from hands-on history lessons and hiking through redwood forests to enjoying campfires after a canoe trip or music and film festivals. Close encounters with animals in nature  make for an exciting day–check out the bison in Yellowstone National Park or grey whales at Point Reyes National Seashore.  A complete list of activities can be found at www.nps.gov including additional dates in 2012 that admission fees will be waived, so you can keep planning adventures in these national treasures.