Take Advantage of Free Admission to National Parks This Weekend

By Cate Starmer
Fodor's Editor

Sure, the mega-parks like Grand Canyon and Yellowstone are must-sees, but did you know there's still time to plan a summer visit to one of the National Park Service's almost 400 other sites? With gas prices lower than last summer, now's the perfect time to explore your local National Parks. TIP: Some parks are always free, but this weekend, August 15th-16th, the NPS is offering free admission to all.

Here are just a few highlights from across the nation.

Biscayne National Park, Florida. Located between Miami and the Florida Keys, Biscayne is the perfect place to take a ride on a glass-bottom boat, but the best way to visit this park is to get wet: try snorkeling or scuba diving.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. Explore an old stagecoach station, follow McKittrick Canyon's desert creek, or climb the highest peak in Texas: 8,749 foot-high Guadalupe Mountain.

Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina. Take a ferry to these remote sandy islands and be on the lookout for loggerhead turtles and wild ponies.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana. Learn about Sitting Bull's defeat of Custer in 1876, along with general information about Native American culture and history.

Acadia National Park, Maine. Follow Mount Desert Island's old carraige roads along the rocky coast and up Cadillac Mountain, the easternmost point in the US.

Oregon Caves National Monument, Oregon. A cave tour will lead you underground to see stalactites and stalagmites in the "Marble Halls of Oregon."

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