OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Special activities are planned at Kalaloch on Saturday during National Public Lands Day, when entrance to federal lands will be free.
There will be no admission charges to Olympic National Park and other lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. Camping and other charges remain in effect.
National Public Lands Day — created to recognize the importance of public lands for recreation, travel, rejuvenation and health — is touted as America’s largest outdoor volunteer service day.
Washington Trails Association, the statewide trail advocacy group, has a number of work projects planned for Saturday.
Work sites include the South Fork Skokomish Trail in Olympic National Forest. Get details at wta.org/volunteer/trail-work-parties.
Olympic National Park and Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary will center their National Public Lands Day activities at Kalaloch Campground from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.
The schedule:
■ 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — In “By Land, By Air, By Sea and Coastal Debris,” ONP rangers and sanctuary educators will be available with displays at the campground day-use picnic area where visitors can explore coastal stories or earn their Junior Ranger Badge.
■ 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — Coast and campground cleanup can take place during these hours, with a ranger-led, two-hour cleanup planned from noon to 2 p.m.
Volunteers can help clean up the Kalaloch beach and campground areas.
Visitors can do this on their own or join the ranger’s cleanup.
Volunteer sign-up forms and garbage bags will be available in the campground day-use picnic area.
■ 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. — “The Giving Sea,” an evening program at the Kalaloch amphitheater, will be about the “give and take” of the relationship between people and the ocean.
Visitors also can spend the day strolling on the beach, visiting the Big Cedar Tree, following a nature trail through a coastal rain forest or relaxing on a bluff as the sun sets over Destruction Island.
Admission fees will also be waived Veterans Day weekend, Nov. 11-13.
Information about visiting these and other park areas is available at the Olympic National Park website at www.nps.gov/olym.
