It's National Park Week, and You Know What That Means: Road Trip
The National Park Service is kicking off a week of special events that coincides with Earth Day.
There are 419 national parks, with at least one in all 50 states, plus in Puerto Rick and U.S. territories.
Entrance to the full park system is only $80 per year ($30 for those 62 and up)-but two special groups get in free: fourth graders and military.
This week, the country's 419 national parks are offering a menu of special activities to commemorate National Park Week. So get in the car, pick a spot from the more than 85 million acres of designated land, and breathe some fresh air. If you can't do it right now, this would be an excellent time to plan a summer road trip.
We’re in the mood to plug the National Park Service after Subaru immersed the media with an elaborate forest-themed stand at the New York auto show. Subaru’s big marketing budget would have onlookers believe the leaf-patterned carpets, wraparound LED screens, two-story log structure, fake snow, and live plants had something to do with a jacked-up family station wagon they debuted in the Manhattan jungle. Apparently it does for Subaru's core customers on the east and west coasts who will line up for the 2020 Outback. Their interests-nature, animals, conservation, the planet, Adele-are apparently why Subaru has donated $20 million over the past six years to help support the national parks.
But corporate write-offs and fuzzy advertising aren’t why you should visit a national park like Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve, pictured above. And the word "park" is a misnomer. Every state, including Puerto Rico and all U.S. territories, has at least one of the 419 parks, which include "monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House," according to the National Park Service. So if a forest or a fake forest at an auto show isn’t your thing, a nice free walk on the beach might be all you need on Saturday. And you won’t have to pull up in a Subaru to get in.
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