Free entrance day in National Parks on Veterans Day, November 11

Photo of hikers on the Cerro Grande Trail 

at Bandelier National Monument. NPS photo

November 11, Veterans Day, is the last free entrance day in the National Parks for 2014. The fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise. Read more here.

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Texas

This month's National Park Getaway
Less than an hour drive from Amarillo, Texas

Fritch, Tex. – For more than 13,000 years, people have used colorful flint from a mesa in the heart of the Texas Panhandle. Archeological traces of prehistoric Indians' homes, workshops and campsites dot the entire Canadian River region of the Texas Panhandle, but few sites are as dramatic as Alibates Flint Quarries.

This 1,337-acre monument, the only national monument in the state of Texas, protects a mesa top literally covered in a carpet of Alibates flint chips. Collecting is not allowed, but you can pick up and examine the flint, even taste it, as long as you put it back.
The best time to visit is during the shoulder seasons for optimum conditions, including the second week of September through the end of October. If you're in the area on October 4, plan to attend FlintFest, an annual celebration that takes place on the first Saturday in October. This year there will be several highlights including the knap-in, featuring some of the best flintknappers from around the area demonstrating the skill of making stone tools and weapons.

Nearby Lake Meredith National Recreation Area offers a variety of camping opportunities, including scenic overlooks, shoreline camping, and wooded campgrounds. All campgrounds are FREE. No reservations are needed; sites are on a first-come, first-served basis. Trailer/RV hookups and showers are NOT available anywhere at Lake Meredith. There are also several private RV parks in the area.

Alibates Flint Quarries is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed only on New Year's, Thanksgiving and Christmas days. Read more about Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument here.

Free entrance to all National Parks on Saturday, September 27

Celebrate National Public Lands Day in a National Park
WASHINGTON – This Saturday, September 27, celebrate National Public Lands Day by heading to a national park to play, learn, serve or work. The 21^st annual event will feature free admission to every National Park Service site, as well as special activities and volunteer work projects across the country.

Sponsored by the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, National Public Lands Day is the largest single-day, hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance federal, state and local public lands in the country. Last year, about 175,000 volunteers worked at 2,237 sites in every state, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Click here for more information and a list of project sites for this Saturday.

In addition to providing free entrance on Saturday, many parks will host special ranger programs and events, including a star party at Craters of the Moon National Memorial and Preserve, a Fall Fiesta at Bandelier National Monument, the Peanut Festival at Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, a wilderness fair at Joshua Tree National Park, the Mountain Festival at City of Rocks, and Music and Art in the Mountains at Blue Ridge Parkway.

Click here for more information about the free entrance days in the National Parks.

“Go Wild” for America's National Parks during National Park Week, April 19-27

From National Park Foundation and National Park Service

From April 19-27, the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation will host National Park Week, featuring special events in parks nationwide. This year’s theme, “National Park Week: Go Wild!” invites visitors to celebrate all that America’s 401 national parks have to offer. With free admission to all parks on April 19 and 20, and exciting activities and programs scheduled throughout the week, National Park Week is the perfect time to discover the diverse wildlife, iconic landscapes, vibrant culture and rich history found in America’s national parks.

There are countless ways to enjoy National Park Week -- below are just a few suggestions:

Go wild for a walk in a park. More than 100 free, ranger-led walks are offered during National Park Week. Hike to a cloud forest, take a sunset stroll, wander through John F. Kennedy's neighborhood, and more.

Go wild for Earth Day. Tour John Muir’s house in California and take part in a combined John Muir Birthday/Earth Day Celebration with music, food, and family-friendly events.

Go wild for Patriot’s Day. Commemorate the opening battle of the American Revolutionary War with parades, reenactments, and special ceremonies in Massachusetts.

Go wild for waterfalls. Take the Whiskeytown Waterfall Challenge at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area in beautiful northern California and hike to Brandy Creek, Boulder Creek, Crystal Creek and Whiskeytown Falls!

Go wild for national park road trips. Enjoy a self-guided tour to historic places, most of which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Each trip takes you to a variety of places significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture.

Go wild for wildflowers. Spring has sprung and it is the perfect time to see nature in all of its colorful glory in parks across the country. Parks including the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and Cumberland Gap and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky will have wildflower walks and talks.

Using the resources on the National Park Week website, visitors can plan adventures, share national park photos, videos and tips, and learn about all the ways to help support national parks.

National Park Week also offers many opportunities for the public to explore local parks, trails, and architectural gems sustained by National Park Service programs such as the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program and the National Register of Historic Places. A complete list of National Park Week events taking place across the country is available at www.nationalparkweek.org.

Visit Congaree National Park in S.C., this month's National Park Getaway

By Jonathan Manchester, Park Ranger, Congaree National Park

Congaree National Park, 20 minutes southeast of Columbia, S.C., ranks among the most diverse forest communities in North America. It contains the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States.

Old growth forest

Imagine a time when the United States was still largely untamed, primitive wilderness. Congaree National Park, with more than 26,000 acres of near-virgin forest, is a portal to the past, to a time when millions of acres of old-growth bottomland hardwood forests towered along the banks of southeastern rivers. Congaree National Park protects an active floodplain ecosystem and preserves a large area of federally designated wilderness close to a major city.

Guided canoe tours

Wilderness activities such as hiking, canoeing and camping allow visitors to experience the park up close. Walking through the stands of old-growth trees, you can observe wildlife such as red-shouldered hawks, wild turkeys and white-tail deer. There are more than 150 species of birds in the park.

Canoe and kayak routes along Cedar Creek take visitors through a tunnel of green leaves in the spring and summer. Whether you plan your own trip or take part in a ranger-guided tour, keep your eyes open–there’s good chance that you’ll see river otter, heron or maybe even an alligator.

Educational tours on boardwalk

The 2.4-mile boardwalk trail from the visitor center makes the floodplain accessible to all visitors and shares the big picture in a small frame.

Yearly floods may cover the trails and parts of the boardwalk, bringing in necessary nutrients that help create the thick green canopy high overhead during the summer. These yearly floods are part of what makes this forest one of the tallest deciduous forests in the United States. Check here for more info and possible park alerts in effect.

Whether you’re seeking solitude, spiritual connections, wildlife viewing, or recreation, Congaree has an abundance of ways to get closer to nature. Congaree National Park does not charge entrance or tour fees. Click here for more park information.

All photos National Park Service