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National parks' fee-free calendar drops MLK Day, Juneteenth and adds Trump's birthday
Grand Canyon Park Services Ranger Jill Staurowsky looks out from the South Rim while giving a tour to visitors on February 22, 2025 in Grand Canyon, Ariz.
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Brandon Bell
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Getty Images
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The Trump administration has removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from next year's calendar of entrance fee-free days for national parks and added President Trump's birthday to the list, according to the National Park Service, as the administration continues to push back against a reckoning of the country's racist history on federal lands.
In addition to Trump's birthday — which coincides with Flag Day (June 14) — the updated calendar of fee-free dates includes the 110th anniversary of the NPS (August 25), Constitution Day (September 17) and President Teddy Roosevelt's birthday (October 27). The changes will take effect starting January 1.
Non-U.S. residents will still be required to pay entrance fees on those dates under the new "America-first pricing" policy. At 11 of some of the country's most popular national parks, international visitors will be charged an extra $100, on top of the standard entrance fee, and the annual pass for non-residents will go up to $250. The annual pass for residents will be $80.
The move follows a July executive order from the White House that called to increase fees applied to non-American visitors to national parks and grant citizens and residents "preferential treatment with respect to any remaining recreational access rules, including permitting or lottery rules."
The Department of the Interior, which oversees NPS, called the new fee-exempted dates "patriotic fee-free days," in an announcement that lauded the changes as "Trump's commitment to making national parks more accessible, more affordable and more efficient for the American people."
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The measures come after President Trump imposed 50% tariffs on many Canadian goods and threatened more after trade talks broke down on Friday. -
The Supreme Court paused a lower court's ruling that blocked key parts of Trump's order to limit voting by mail for the midterms. -
The ruling comes after months of back-and-forth between the Trump administration and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
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Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement: "These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations."
The new calendar follows the Trump administration's previous moves to reshape U.S. history by asking patrons of national parks to flag any signs at sites deemed to cast a negative light on past or living Americans.
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