On six dates this year, anyone can be admitted free to Mount Rainier National Park and two other Washington locations of the National Parks System (NPS). The same is true for state parks on nine dates the rest of 2021.
Fee-free days, hosted annually by NPS at many of its parks nationwide, coincide with holidays and parks-specific observances. Â In 2021, the first was on Jan. 18 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day). Still to come are April 17 (first day of National Park Week), Aug. 4 (one-year anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act), Aug. 25 (National Park Service birthday), Sept. 25 (National Public Lands Day), and Nov. 11 (Veterans Day).
In Washington, in addition to Mount Rainier, the free passes apply at Olympic National Park and Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver. Additional information is at nps.gov.
State parks also have free admission days—for day-use only, not camping. They include March 19 (State Parks’ 108th birthday), April 3, June 5 (National Trails Day), June 12 (National Get Outdoors Day), June 13 (Free Fishing Day), Aug. 25 (National Park Service birthday), Sept. 25 (National Public Lands Day), Nov. 11 (Veterans Day), and Nov. 26. More information is available at parks.state.wa.us.
