More Americans have been visiting national parks, says The Wall Street Journal. The National Park Service announced that there were 127.7 million visits to national parks in the first six months of 2009. That is an increase of nearly 4.5 million visits over 2008.
President Barack Obama and his family visited Yellowstone National Park on Saturday and Grand Canyon National Park on Sunday. The visits came during the last of three summer weekends when the administration waived entrance fees at 147 national parks and monuments to spur tourism.
Officials credit the "free weekends" for part of the spike in park visits, but say visits were up even before the fee waivers began in June. Visits to parks near urban areas, including Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, Acadia National Park in Maine and Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, were all up this year.
Visits also were up at Yellowstone, known for Old Faithful.
In June alone there were 700,000 more visits to national parks than there were last year. Perhaps more families are opting for driving than flying vacations this year. The "load up the family in the car and start driving" vacation is having a resurgence.
National Parks to Offer 3 Fee Free Weekends This Summer
CNN reports that The National Park Service is going to offer three fee-free weekends at all 147 National Parks this summer to make it easier for cash-strapped families to visit the parks.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the initiative Tuesday at a news conference at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio.
"National parks also serve as powerful economic engines for local communities, and we hope that promoting visitation will give a small shot in the arm to businesses in the area," Salazar said.
The fee-free weekend dates are:
June 20-21, 2009 (Father's Day weekend)
July 18-19, 2009
August 15-16, 2009
CNN says the normal fees for the parks ranges from $3 to $25. You can read more about the offer here on the National Park Service website.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. The park is a hiker's paradise with over 800 miles of maintained trails. The Smokies are known for the number of bears that live there. There are over 1,500 bears in the park. The Park is also home to many other types of plant and animal life.
This page lists some of the 75th anniversary celebrations including the June 13-15 75th Anniversary Weekend Celebration.
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