Enjoy a free day at national parks, forests on Veterans Day, Nov. 11

Next week, national parks and forests will waive entrance fees for one day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, to honor servicemen and women. Unlike past years, when only U.S. veterans, active members of the U.S. armed forces and their families got a free pass, this year’s Veterans Day observance will allow everyone in for free, according to a news release Tuesday, Nov. 3, from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

If the deal otherwise works like it did in past years, you’ll still owe fees for camping, permits and other activities. But you can save a lot anyway because some popular parks, including California’s Yosemite National Park, normally charge entrance fees of $20 or so per car.

The Interior Department earlier this year expanded the number of free days on federal lands, offering three fee-free weekends over the summer. At that time, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar noted that parks provide affordable family vacations “during these tough economic times.”

Veterans Day is also a good time to visit national parks and historical monuments that honor the sacrifices of U.S. citizens who served in the military. Check out the the National Park Service website for ideas on where to go. Many of these places are in the eastern half of the country, but not all of them.

One of the most moving war memorials that I’ve ever visited is the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii (pictured above), part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument that stretches across that great ocean. It was memorable for the reverential silence of its visitors, its shrine with the daunting list of battle victims and the haunting experience of standing atop the long-sunk warship where so many made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Travel editor

Photo: Visitors enter the USS Arizona War Memorial in Hawii in 2004. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 8:52 am by Jane Engle and is filed under California, Deals, Fall, Family & Kids, Hawaii, National Parks, Northern California, Oahu, Outdoors & Adventure, Weekend Getaways, Yosemite National Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.