"Starting Jan. 1, the 2026 free-entry days for U.S. residents will include: President's Day - Feb. 16, 2026 Memorial Day - May 25, 2026 Flag Day / President Trump's Birthday - June 14, 2026 Independence Day weekend - July 3-5, 2026 110th Birthday of the National Park Service - Aug. 25, 2026 Constitution Day - Sept. 17, 2026 Theodore Roosevelt's Birthday - Oct. 27, 2026 Veterans Day - Nov. 11, 2026"
"Nick Collins, who runs 510 Hikers - an East Bay group working to make outdoor spaces more inclusive - said he has long noticed a lack of people of color on trails. He founded the group to help close those gaps. Now, he sees the new policy as a step backward. "There's an undermining of the progress that was being made to make these national parks more accessible to Black people especially, who had been historically, it felt like they had been left out,""
The Trump administration revised the National Park Service free-entry calendar, removing Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, and National Public Lands Day while adding President Trump's birthday on Flag Day. The administration described the shift as part of a broader modernization effort. Advocates and local organizers criticized the change as symbolic and regressive, saying it undermines progress to make parks more accessible to Black people and other communities of color. Local hiking organizers emphasized longstanding underrepresentation of people of color on trails and warned the policy may discourage inclusive access. The 2026 free-entry schedule lists eight designated days for U.S. residents.
#national-park-service #free-admission-policy #mlk-day-removal #juneteenth-removal #presidential-birthday
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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