visit our national parks for free with your fourth grader

Our family loves visiting National Parks. We try to visit at least one a year. We especially love when we’re able to visit a new park that we’ve never explored before! So far we’ve made it to ten different National Parks as a family, although we’ve had some repeats too. Today I’m going to share with you how you can visit our National Parks for free!

At Christmastime I shared how you can go into our National Forest and cut down a Christmas tree for free (and legally!). In that post I mentioned the Every Kid Outdoors pass. This pass is eligible to every fourth grader in the United States. Whether your child attends public school or you homeschool your child can qualify. Not only that, but it’s actually really easy to get a pass!

| These are three great National Parks to visit in California. |

how to get a National Parks pass for free

It took my fourth grader less than 30 minutes online to get his Every Kid Outdoors pass. Log on to everykidoutdoors.gov and click on the link that says “GET YOUR PASS”. Your child will then need fill out an online diary, but I promise it’s not hard at all!

| Here are five more National Parks our family loves. |

some things to keep in mind:

• Don’t lose your pass. You can’t reprint them so if you misplace your child’s pass they’ll have to go through the process of getting a new one.
• The pass allows entrance for your fourth grader. If the National Park collects fee per car that means your entire carload will get in for free. If the fee is charged per person it will admit all children under 16 and up to three adults for free. (Commercial vehicles can’t use the pass.)
• It there is no ranger to show your pass to leave it on the dashboard of your vehicle.
• You can exchange your printed, paper pass for a plastic card at some locations.
• The pass is effective from September 1 through August 31 of the following year. This gives your family a great chance to use it during the Summer break!

Even with your pass some National Parks are currently requiring that you reserve day pass for admission. Be sure to check with individual locations before you leave on your trip!

Do you have a fourth grader? Did you know you could get into our National Parks for free?