April each year the National Park Service teams up with the National Park Foundation to celebrate National Park Week. The National Park Foundation is the official charitable partner of the park service focused on raising private funds to support America’s parks.
Through out the year there are a number of free admission days to the parks. The first one this year was Jan. 18th for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The next one is April 17th on the first day of 2021 National Park Week celebration.
- January 18th – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- April 17th – First Day of National Parks Week
- August 4th – Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act
- August 25th – National Park Service Birthday
- September 25th – National Public Lands Day
- November 11th – Veterans Day
National Park Week Themes
Each day of the 2021 National Park week has its own theme and the final day of the week, April 25th is BARK Ranger Day. While National Parks have traditionally not been welcoming to our furry friends, some parks are making accommodations for those of us that travel with our pets. These accommodations include having some trails open for pets so that they can also enjoy some parts of the parks without impacting the native wildlife that the park is meant to conserve. Other parks have very few restrictions on where leashed pets can go, I call these 4-paw parks.
4-paw Park Posts on the Blog
Glacier National Park
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Devil's Garden Grand Staircase-Escalante
Great Dane versus Mouse
Martok’s trip to Devils Tower National Monument
City of Rocks National Reserve
Summer walkabout 2019
Death Valley National Park
On the road again
Two Montezumas and a Tuzigoot
Dog Friendly Alternative on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is Kaibab National Forest
Sinks Canyon State Park
Three Parks in Southern Idaho
Pet Friendly Yuma, Gallup not so much
Waterton Lakes National Park
Don’t assume that BARK Ranger parks are pet friendly, some are not. Be sure to check the pet policy for each park and be aware that the policies do change from time to time.
