OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Visitors to the Olympic National park will pay no entrance fees on Saturday and Sunday.
The back-to-back entrance-fee-free days are part of nationwide celebrations at national parks and other public lands.
National Public Lands Day will be celebrated on Saturday when the park will join other National Park Service areas and other federal land management agencies in waiving entrance fees.
Other park fees, including wilderness camping and campground fees, will remain in effect.
On Sunday, entrance fees again will be waived for all visitors, in honor and recognition of newly naturalized citizens.
Newly naturalized citizens are invited to identify themselves at entrance stations or visitors centers, so they may receive a welcome packet to the national parks for new citizens of the United States.
Ranger-led education programs will be offered each of these days at Hurricane Ridge, Hoh, Kalaloch and Mora.
The park’s visitor centers will be open, including the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles, the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and the Hoh Visitor Center, along with the Forks, Kalaloch and Storm King information centers.
Programs will be offered on Saturday only at Lake Crescent, Quinault and Sol Duc.
For a full listing of programs, visitors may consult area bulletin boards.
On July 4, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne extended a special welcome to newly naturalized citizens, saying, “Our national parks celebrate the story of America: our history, our heroes and the ideals upon which we build our future.
With this invitation, I want to give our newest citizens, those who have chosen to adopt America as their home, a chance to come and experience those pieces of America for themselves.”
