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2026 National Park and National Forest Fee Free Days

On a fee free day, U.S. residents pay no entrance fee at participating federal recreation sites. Non-residents pay the full fees.

A fee free day waives the cost of getting in, and nothing else. Camping, tours, boat launches, and anything you reserve ahead of time are still charged, and a park that requires a reservation still requires one. The dates below are grouped by the agency that honors them, because the three lists do not match.

National Park Service fee free days

At participating U.S. National Parks and National Forests, U.S. residents can enter free on these dates.

U.S. National Forest fee free days

All U.S. National Forests observe these dates.

Coconino National Forest fee free days

Coconino National Forest, which surrounds Sedona and Flagstaff in Arizona, keeps its own, longer list, so a trip there has more fee free dates to choose from than most forests.

Going more than a few times this year?

There are only a handful of fee free days, and they fall on the busiest weekends of the year. If you expect to visit outside them, the America the Beautiful pass covers a year of entrance to over 2,000 national parks and federal recreation sites for everyone in your vehicle. Parks like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone charge $35 a visit, so the pass pays for itself in about three trips.

On the fee free days themselves you need nothing at all. The pass is for every other day of the year.

Add the fee free days to your calendar

The dates move every year, so the reliable way to catch them is to subscribe once and let your calendar carry them forward. Our fee free days calendar works in Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook; the step-by-step instructions are in our FAQ.