WASHINGTON — The National Park Service is waiving entrance fees at more than 100 national parks on Jan. 14-16 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend.
The list includes parks like Everglades in Florida and Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii, which attract a fair number of visitors in winter, as well as parks that see more visitors in the summer but that offer winter recreation as well, like Yellowstone in Wyoming and Sequoia National Park in California. For a list of participating parks by state, visit www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm.
The parks in Washington state include:
• Mount Rainier National Park.
• Olympic National Park.
• Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
• Lewis &Clark National Historical Park.
• Whitman Mission National Historic Site.
The National Park Service website said the fee waiver includes entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees, but other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not covered by the fee waiver unless stated otherwise.
However, some park partners and nearby businesses are offering discounts and special offers for the weekend, such as a two-for-one Grand Canyon tour offer with coupon; details at www.nationalparksonline.org/special-offers.
Other fee-free days scheduled for national parks for 2012 are April 21-29, which is National Park Week; June 9, “Get Outdoors Day”; Sept. 29, National Public Lands Day, and Nov. 10-12, Veterans Day weekend.
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