Free entrance to National Parks this summer

The National Parks Service announced that on select weekends this summer, you can get in free to various national parks throughout the country!   The dates are June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16.   We are so lucky to have so many awesome national parks close to us – here’s a list of the ones in Colorado that are participating in the fee-free weekends:

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Colorado National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
Great Sand Dunes NP & Preserve National Park
Hovenweep National Monument
Mesa Verde National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park

Now, some of these would probably be better to just stomach the fee and go when it’s a little less crowded – the Great Sand Dunes only charges $3 per adult, so for a few bucks I’d rather go when it’s not so busy.   But, it costs $20 to get into Rocky Mountain National, so it might be worth fighting the crowds!

We’ve hit Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, and Rocky Mountain in the past couple of years.   I think my overall favorite is the Sand Dunes – the way it’s situated in the San Luis Valley up against the Sangre de Christos is breathtaking.   We visited Mesa Verde in fall 2007 and only planned to spend a few hours there, but actually spent the better part of the day exploring the park.