Day Trippin': National Parks Edition

In 1916 there were 35 sites that fell under the jurisdiction of the National Parks Service (or NPS). The park system was the brainchild of Theodore Roosevelt who made conservation a priority during his tenure as President. This year marks the centennial anniversary of our National Parks system. Today the number of entities in the NPS has grown to include 58 separate parks, 10 national seashores, and 72 monuments. All of which you can get your entire family into for free!

That’s right! FREE! But there is a catch: you have to have a child in the fourth grade. All you have to do is register your fourth grader on the website (I’ll post all the links at the bottom) and print the confirmation! It takes about 10 minute to accomplish and your child can actually do most of it themselves. Then when you go to the park take your printed confirmation (and your child!) and turn it in for you free pass. This is a limited time offer folks! It will expire at the end of August but that still gives you 3 months to get out there and explore!

I know what you’re thinking, “I don’t have a fourth grader.” Well guess what! National and state parks are some of the cheapest day trips around! Many of them are free to get into anyway! Others have a cost that starts at about $5 per carload. That’s less than the cost of a movie! But wait! There’s more! There are several days in 2016 that offer free admission to our National Parks for everyone! Everyone! Even you! (Again- links at the bottom!) Who knows what a Junior Ranger is? Until a couple of years ago I would have defined a Junior Ranger as a  child with a subscription to Ranger Rick magazine, but I would have been wrong. The Junior Ranger program is an educational program that runs in many of your state and National Parks. Some of them are free, some charge $2-$5 for the workbooks, and all of them are totally awesome. During a visit to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park my kids learned how bats find food without the sense of sight, hopped like frogs, raced like coyotes, and voluntarily picked up an entire bag of litter. After they had completed their activities Ranger Mike swore them in as honorary Junior Rangers. He gave them badges and signed a certificate commemorating their achievements. It cost us $2.50 per kid. Totally worth the memories! I’ll post a video or two on our youtube channel of their activities.
A silly thing that has quickly become one of our family favorites is the NPS passport. For less than $10 you can purchase a Passport that includes all the National Parks. They have them online and at most visitor’s centers. I bought one, on a whim, a couple of years ago and the kids have had a ball with it all over the country! Each park has a different stamp (most are found in the visitor’s centers or gift shops). When you go to the park the kids can stamp a page with the date of your visit. You can also purchase stickers at each location to add to your book (from our experience the stickers cost another $1-$5). Viola! You have a souvenir that spans several trips!

Now that you have read this, check out the handy-dandy links I’ve rounded up for you and go find a park! Pack a picnic, a camera, some sunscreen and have an adventure! Send us your pictures!
LINKS:
Fourth Grader Free
Free Admission Days
Junior Ranger Information
National Park Finder
Youtube Channe