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National Park Service New free admission policy Effective Jan. 1, it is one of several changes the park service announced late last month, including Entrance fees are higher for international visitors.
Starting next year, non-Americans will also no longer have the option to visit on one of the “free days.”
In 2026, U.S. residents will be able to enter the park for free president Donald Trump’s birthday also happens to be Flag Day, but the Park Service is canceling Martin Luther King Jr. Day benefits, Juneteenth.
Other days with free park admission in 2026 include Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, Presidents Day Theodore Rooseveltbirthday (October 27) and Park Service anniversary (August 25).
Canceling Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of the last enslaved Americans in 1865, eliminates two of the nation’s most famous civil rights holidays.
After word began to spread about the change, some civil rights leaders expressed opposition.
Cornell William Brooks, a professor at Harvard Kennedy School and former president of Harvard Kennedy School, said, “The naked racial discrimination here stinks to the sky.” NAACPwriting about the new policy on social media.
Christine Brengle, a spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association, said that while presidential administrations have made adjustments to free days in the past, the elimination of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is particularly concerning.
On the one hand, the day has become a popular day of service for community groups, who use the day’s free time to carry out volunteer projects in the park.
Brengle said the cost now will be much higher. Brengle’s organization is a nonprofit that advocates for the park system.
Resident-only free days in 2026:
- Presidents Day (February 16, 2026)
- Memorial Day (May 25, 2026)
- Flag Day/President Trump’s Birthday (June 14, 2026)
- Independence Day Weekend (July 3-5, 2026)
- National Park Service 110th Anniversary (August 25, 2026)
- Constitution Day (September 17, 2026)
- Theodore Roosevelt’s Birthday (October 27, 2026)
- Veterans Day (November 11, 2026)
“Not only is it honoring an American hero, but it’s a day for people to come into the park and clean it up,” Brengle said. “Martin Luther King deserves to be recognized…For some reason, black history has been repeatedly targeted by this administration, and it shouldn’t be that way.”
Some democracy Lawmakers also opposed the new policy.
“The president not only added his own birthday to the list, he removed two holidays that mark the struggle for civil rights and freedom for black Americans,” said Democratic Senator Cassirer. Catherine Cortez Masto of nevada. “Our country deserves better.”
Since taking office, Trump has sought to undo programs seen as promoting diversity in the federal government and to erase or downplay the nation’s racist history and actions that have led to the civil rights victories of black Americans.
Self-promotion is an old habit of the president, and he has continued it in his second term. He failed to make his claim Nobel Peace PrizeRenamed the United States Institute of Peace after himself and attempted to include his name in the plans National Football League stadium in the nation’s capital and has a new children’s savings program named in his honor.
Some republican Lawmakers suggest covering his face mount rushmore and 100 dollar bills.