UNITED STATES — This Monday marks the first time in 15 years that the Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday will not be observed with free admission to Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and other National Park Service (NPS) sites.
As part of a spate of changes to national park entrance fees and passes announced in November, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) shared its calendar of fee-free days for 2026. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which had been honored as an NPS fee-free day beginning in 2011 after being established as a federal holiday in 1983 by President Regan, does not appear on the list.
Nor does Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery in the U.S.; Juneteenth was added to the fee-free calendar in 2024 after becoming a federal holiday in 2021.
The fee-free day calendar changes from year to year. The full slate of free entry days at NPS sites for 2026 is as follows:
- February 16: Presidents Day (Washington’s Birthday)
- May 25: Memorial Day
- June 14: Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday
- July 3–5: Independence Day weekend
- August 25: 110th Birthday of the National Park Service
- September 17: Constitution Day
- October 27: Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday
- November 11: Veterans Day
The changes were announced under the DOI’s “America-first” revisions to NPS access policies. The dates listed above allow free entry only for U.S. citizens; international visitors will still pay regular admission fees, and a $100 surcharge for each nonresident entering the 11 most popular national parks, including the two in Wyoming.
King is a prominent figure at many NPS-managed sites, including: the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in the District of Columbia; the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Georgia; and the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Alabama. His historic “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered from the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
“Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth symbolize justice, freedom, and service, and they honor the ongoing work of making our country whole,” Deputy Director of the Sierra Club’s “Outdoors For All” campaign Gerry James said in a statement. “Removing free entry to national parks on these federal holidays is a step backward. At a time when we should be expanding opportunities for everyone to connect with our shared public lands, this move shows just how far the administration will go to sidestep our nation’s complex history.”
