It’s the busy season for Colorado’s national parks and monuments — summer, when more than ever drivers pay entrance fees up to $35.
That won’t be required on select dates in the weeks and months ahead.
June 19 is the National Park Service’s next “fee-free day.” That will be in honor of Juneteenth, the federal holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States.
One might also mark their calendar for Aug. 4, when the National Park Service waives the price of admission in commemorating the signing date of the Great American Outdoors Act.
After that the next free day is Sept. 27, National Public Lands Day. The year’s last day for free entry will be Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
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“National parks are places that awaken senses, inspire curiosity, encourage reflection and foster joy,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said in a previous statement on the special occasions. “The entrance fee-free days expand opportunities for people to visit their national parks and experience the beauty and history of our country.”
That includes at Colorado’s busiest National Park Service site: Rocky Mountain National Park. While admission will be free on the dates, timed entry reservations will still be required at Recreation.gov.
The state’s other national parks are Great Sand Dunes, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Mesa Verde.
The National Park Service lists 13 sites in the state, including big and rugged destinations on the Western Slope: Colorado and Dinosaur national monuments.
Closer to Front Range populations is Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, home to massive, petrified redwood stumps. On the southeast plains near La Junta, Bent’s Old Fort is an elaborate recreation of a major trading post from the pioneer days.