National Park Fee-Free Days: Context Over Outrage

by Dee Dee Bass Wilbon & Deana Bass Williams

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE A CORRECTION:

Once again TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome for the uninitiated, has caused people from the left and various corners of the Very Online to lose their minds after the National Park Service released its 2026 fee-free day schedule. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth were removed. Cue the outrage machine. A quick review of the program’s actual history shows the reaction is misplaced.

The NPS fee-free day program began in 2008 under President George W. Bush. For context, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was never designated as a fee-free day under George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush. It finally made its first modern appearance in 2011 under President Barack Obama. Then, in 2018, President Donald Trump added MLK Day again as part of a broader fee-free expansion. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 and was added to the list in 2024 under President Joe Biden.

In our earlier reporting we said MLK Day did not become fee-free until 2018. A literal Karen pointed out that Obama was actually first to do so in 2011. She was right. Facts matter. We believe to build trust, we have to be willing to admit when we get it wrong. Not giving Obama credit was not intentional and it does not change the broader point that multiple presidents did not designate MLK Day as fee-free at all.  

For 2026, the Trump administration removed five existing fee-free dates, including MLK Day and Juneteenth, while adding seven new ones tied to America’s 250th anniversary and the history of the National Park Service. Newly designated days include Presidents Day, an extended Independence Day weekend, Constitution Day, the 110th anniversary of the National Park Service and the birthdays of Theodore Roosevelt and the U.S. Army on Flag Day. Flag Day happens to fall on Trump’s birthday and you can bet the farm that he is going to celebrate the hell out of it.

If adding MLK Day and Juneteenth was intended to increase interest in national parks among Black and brown Americans, the effort did not deliver. The National Park Service reported 325.5 million recreation visits in 2023, the most recent year with complete data. Yet visitor surveys still show stark racial disparities. Approximately 77 percent of visitors identify as white, 11 percent as Hispanic or Latino, 6 percent as Asian and only 2 percent as Black or African American. At some point the country can admit that everything is not about race and maybe not everyone finds hiking, camping or checking for bears an ideal day off.

Rather than leaning into TDS and framing the 2026 changes as an attack on African Americans, why not take a step back and seize the remaining fee-free opportunities to experience America’s great parks. Make some homemade gorp, throw on khakis, a Patagonia and a safari hat and visit the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, the Smoky Mountains and hundreds of other sites that belong to every taxpayer.

The outrage over swapping holidays for America’s 250th anniversary events says more about political theater than discrimination. The parks are still open. The fees are still waived on multiple days. And no one is stopping anyone from showing up.

We are not blind, some things are about race.  But framing every single decision through a TDS lens of racial outrage is going to cause unnecessary high blood pressure.  Take advantage of the free days that exist, bring your family and let reality, not outrage, speak for itself.  

To the actual Karen who fact checked us, we say “Thank You!”  If you follow us long enough, you will know that we believe in honest dialogue and fair debate.  We hope you will subscribe to BPALiveWire.com for in person and virtual events.