Road tripping around the country inevitably accrues expenses – and quickly if you’re not careful. So when an opportunity arises to save a few bucks, it’s certainly something to consider as every little bit of savings can really add up to a large sum of money.
The U.S. National Park Service offers such savings to its visitors by waiving entry fees to national parks during a few weekends throughout the year known as fee-fr
ee days. This is a continuation of a promotion that was started with the purpose of inspiring Americans to explore the beautiful outdoor landscapes that can be found sometimes seemingly right in our own backyards. Considering the U.S. National Park Service has reported record attendance during these years, it appears that this effort has been a success.
In 2012, the U.S. National Park Service will offer 17 fee-free days throughout the year including:
January 14-16 (Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend)
April 21-29 (National Parks Week)
June 9 (Get Outdoors Day)
September 29 (National Public Lands Day)
and November 10-12 (Veterans Day Weekend)
Additionally, according to CBS, Channel 6 in Richmond, Virginia, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service will waive their entrance and standard amenity fees on the following dates in 2012:
January14-16
June 9
September 29
November10-12.
To coincide with the U.S. National Park Service’s promotion, a number of hotels, restaurants, gift shops, and tour operators will show their support to this effort as well, as they will offer specials during the National Park fee-free days.
If you’re interested in seeing America’s beautiful sites while saving a few bucks, you should start planning your trip to visit a national park during a fee-free weekend now as reservations tend to book up quickly.
Gary Kircher
why cant good sams club work a deal with the Corp. of engieers for a discount if nothing else on the National parks day. And I also agree with Bill Mc Gowen
Good Sam says: Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I have forwarded your suggestion to our management team for consideration.
Dan McGowan
Life Members NEED to get a better discount that just 10%- more like 25% or 50% that other smaller clubs offer. WE pay more for life memberships and since many of us are retired and on a fixed income now – this would go a long way to more rving
Good Sam
Bill – this information can be found in the Good Sam Trailer Life Directory which lists the campgrounds at National Parks along with the private campgrounds by location. The 2012 Good Sam Trailer Life Directory would be your most up-to-date resource for this valuable information. If you would like more information on it, click the link below. Note: you will need to log into your online Good Sam Club account to view this in the Good Sam Club Store.
https://www.goodsamclub.com/LoginStart.aspx?ReturnUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fgoodsam.campingworld.com/shopping/item/2012-trailer-life-campground-directory/58754
If you have online access while on the road, another option to finding campgrounds at National RV Parks is to use the Good Sam online trip routing tool which offers the option of filtering your results by National Parks and/or Good Sam Parks in addition to other options as well.
Bill Bus
Is there a national park directory available for parks that allow RV (5th wheel) camping and the fees?