lennyba

This is a nice thing:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/06/02...ees/index.html

emalloy

This is a nice perk and maybe folks will take advantage of it and discover how fantastic our National Parks are and plan to visit more often in the future.

yk

lennyba - thanks for posting this!

Just heads up for everyone, the NPS is more than *just* the huge National Parks that we usually think of. For example, in the Boston area, the NPS manages parts of the historic core/freedom trail, as well as sites such as Longfellow House (home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) and JFK birthplace, just to name a few.

On my recent trip to San Francisco, I found out that area around Fisherman's Wharf is the Maritime National Historic Park managed by NPS, with historic ships to visit and guided tours to take.

I'll try to take advantage of these free weekends to check out the many NPS sites in the greater Boston area.

FYI: The fee-free dates are June 20 and 21, July 18 and 19, and August 15 and 16

yk

After looking at NPS' website, I realized that only a selected number of National Parks participate in this fee-free promotion. Here's a complete list (sorted by State):
http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparksbystate.htm

Here are some additional special promotions at selected NPs for those 3 weekends
http://www.parkpartners.org/view/324...09-Offers.html

Katie_H

Thanks for the heads up lennyba---we tweeted this:
www.twitter.com/fodorstravel/

lennyba

TTT for people looking for cheap fun today.

yk

I did go to the JKF Birthplace National Historic Site in Brookline Massachusetts yesterday.

lincasanova

take grandma in the car with you. They have a $10 lifetime pass and the entire carload gets in free everywhere.

lennyba

Can I borrow yours?

lincasanova

hahaha

lennyba

Topping once more for the last weekend of this offer.

Cate_W

Thanks for reminding everyone, lennyba.

This is a great opportunity to visit a park that might be closer to you than you realize:
http://www.fodors.com/news/story_3522.html

yk

Thanks for topping this, lennyba. We're planning to visit one of the sites on Sunday.

lennyba

Which one, yk?

yk

Longfellow House in Cambridge, MA. I've been there before but not DH. It's a great place with lots of history.

lennyba

Cool. Have you been to...shoot, I've forgotten the name. There's a castle in the Boston area - Hammond, maybe? A friend was telling me about it recently and I mean to put it on the list for the next trip out that way.

yk

Hammond Castle is in Gloucester, about 30+ miles N of Boston. It is not an NPS site though. I haven't been, but I asked about it here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-of-boston.cfm