Celebrate National Public Lands Day in a National Park

This Saturday, September 27, celebrate National Public Lands Day by heading to a national park to play, learn, serve, or work. The 21^st annual event will feature free admission to every National Park Service site, as well as special activities and volunteer work projects across the country.

“National parks and other public lands are the birthright and legacy of all Americans, and as we celebrate these special places on National Public Lands Day, people across the country will come together to join in our efforts to protect and preserve them,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.  “Whether you come for a visit or to volunteer, I hope that everyone will spend some time enjoying their national parks and public lands on Saturday.”

Sponsored by the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, National Public Lands Day is the largest single-day, hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance federal, state and local public lands in the country. Last year, about 175,000 volunteers worked at 2,237 sites in every state, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.  Visit http://www.npld.org for more information and a list of project sites.

Volunteers will lend a hand to help the land at more than 60 national parks. Among the projects, they will walk weed-eating goats at Carl Sandburg National Historic Site, restore wetlands at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, take part in the Yosemite National Park facelift, clean the beach at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and rehabilitate a campground at Prince William Forest Park. Anyone who volunteers for a National Park Service work project during National Public Lands Day will receive a free pass for a future visit to a national park.

In addition to providing free entrance on Saturday, many parks will host special ranger programs and events, including a star party at Craters of the Moon National Memorial and Preserve, a Fall Fiesta at Bandelier National Monument, the Peanut Festival at Jimmy y Carter National Historic Site, a wilderness fair at Joshua Tree National Park, the Mountain Festival at City of Rocks, and Music and Art in the Mountains at Blue Ridge Parkway.

The following national parks, listed by state, are among those that will host volunteer projects on National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 27:

• Alabama: Little River Canyon National Preserve, Russell Cave National Monument
• Alaska: Sitka National Historical Park
• Arizona: Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Saguaro National Park
• Arkansas: Arkansas Post National Memorial
• California: Channel Islands National Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, John Muir National Historic Site, Lava Beds National Monument, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Yosemite National Park
• Colorado: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
• Connecticut: Weir Farm National Historic Site
• Delaware: First State National Monument
• Washington, DC: National Capital Parks- East, National Mall and Memorial Parks
• Florida: Everglades National Park, Gulf Islands National Seashore
• Georgia; Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
• Hawaii: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
• Indiana: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
• Maryland: C&O Canal National Historical Park, Monocacy National Battlefield
• Massachusetts: Minute Man National Historical Park
• Michigan: Keweenaw National Historical Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
• Minnesota: Pipestone National Monument
• Mississippi: Vicksburg National Military Park
• Missouri: George Washington Carver National Monument
• Nebraska: Homestead National Monument of America
• Nevada: Lake Mead National Recreation Area
• New Hampshire: Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
• New Jersey: Patterson Great Falls National Monument
• New York: Gateway National Recreation Area
• North Carolina: Cape Lookout National Seashore, Carl Sandburg National Historic Site
• Ohio: James A. Garfield National Historic Site, William Howard Taft National Historic Site
• Oklahoma: Chickasaw National Recreation Area
• Oregon: Oregon Caves National Monument
• Pennsylvania: Valley Forge National Historical Park
• Puerto Rico: San Juan National Historic Site
• South Dakota: Jewell Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park
• Tennessee: Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Shiloh National Military Park
• Texas: Big Bend National Park, Padre Island National Seashore
• Utah: Arches National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Zion National Park
• Virginia: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Prince William Forest Park, Shenandoah National Park, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts,
• Washington: Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Mount Rainier National Park, San Juan Island National Historical Park
• Wyoming: Devils Tower National Monument, Yellowstone National Park

Image courtesy National Park Service