Visit Grand Canyon fee free today

Grand Canyon visitors enjoy a South Rim sunset.

Today Grand Canyon National Park is celebrating Martin Luther King Day with FREE admission. MLK Day marks the first of several fee-free dates in 2013, including April 22-26 (National Park Week), August 25 (National Park Service’s birthday), September 28 (National Public Lands Day), and November 9-11 (Veterans Day weekend). Though most national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges don’t charge entry fees, Grand Canyon’s $25/vehicle entry fee is among the highest, making the park’s annual fee-free dates a good time to plan a trip.

Especially for families or budget travelers, fee-free days offer an opportunity to participate in what Wallace Stegner called “the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic.” The establishment of the National Park Service in 1916 meant we could set aside tracts of land and historic treasures for future generations to enjoy, and today, almost every community in the U.S. can boast a nearby preserve. In Arizona alone, we count 18 national parks and monuments, 6 national forests, and another half-dozen or so national historic sites, recreation areas, and wildlife refuges.

Whether it’s a walk in the woods or that time-honored American tradition, the family road trip, it’s crucially important to take time out for nature. Today, when our dazzling modern inventions take us farther from the natural world, that’s more true than ever. (Ever read The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv? It’s a stunning examination of how “nature-deficit disorder” impacts mental and emotional development.) And, speaking as someone whose work involves sitting at a desk for long stretches, exploring nature is the best way to get up and get moving.

Showing up for fee-free days is also a way of participating in the democratic process. I could rant about how starving our parks of public funding is a blatant attempt at promoting privatization, but I’ll resist. And I could add that creeping privatization leads to higher entry fees, which in turn leads to an elitist system, but I’ll resist that as well. (I could also point out that those who protest fees are grabbing the wrong end of the stick … but who can blame them for taking that route, considering the current Congressional climate?)

So instead I will encourage everyone to vote with their feet and beat a trail to the nearest park to enjoy our national heritage!