The White House announced that beginning January 1, 2026, national parks will stop honoring free admission to visitors on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Juneteenth, and will begin honoring free admission to visitors on Flag Day/President Trump’s Birthday, both on June 14.
Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, responded, “Trump is doing what he usually does. He seeks to distract and divide us by undermining progress attributed to the Black community. By doing this, he’s hoping we’ll forget about his failures on the economy. But we’re not buying it.”
The official account of the NAACP added: “Removing free access to the National Parks on MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth is exactly as racist as you think it is.”
Removing free access to the National Parks on MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth is exactly as racist as you think it is.
— NAACP (@NAACP) December 8, 2025
Note: In July, Trump revoked the Presidential Memorandum of January 12, 2017 (Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Our National Parks, National Forests, and Other Public Lands and Waters), which was designed to, according to President Obama: “ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to experience and enjoy our public lands and waters, that all segments of the population have the chance to engage in decisions about how our lands and waters are managed, and that our Federal workforce — not just the sites it manages — is drawn from the rich range of the diversity in our Nation.”
Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior which oversees the National Parks, said the changes to the National Parks reflect Trump’s “commitment to making national parks more accessible, more affordable and more efficient for the American people.”
Beginning in January, non-U.S. residents will still be required to pay entrance fees on these new “patriotic fee-free days.”
At some of the country’s most popular national parks including Yosemite, international visitors will be charged an extra $100, in addition to the standard entrance fee.
The U.S. resident-only “patriotic fee-free days” for 2026 are:
- President’s Day (February 16)
- Memorial Day (May 25)
- Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday (June 14)
- Independence Day weekend (July 3–5)
- 110th Birthday of the National Park Service (August 25)
- Constitution Day (Sept. 17)
- Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (Oct. 27)
- Veteran’s Day (November 11)