OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Free park entry and Junior Ranger Day will celebrate the beginning of National Park Week this weekend.
Olympic National Park will waive its entrance fee of $15 per car Saturday and Sunday.
Other park fees, including wilderness camping and campground fees, will remain in effect.
Also free will be Junior Ranger Day at the park visitor center, 3002 Mount Angeles Road, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Children and their parents can learn more about planning family hiking trips, creating a craft project and going on a scavenger hunt.
Park rangers will guide youths in examination of microscopic plants and insects, and explain how to earn a National Junior Ranger Day award.
Weather permitting, families can hike and explore the area with park rangers.
Backcountry horsemen will be available to instruct how to safely share the trails with pack stock.
Weeklong discoveries
The theme of the nationwide National Park Week, which is from Saturday through April 26, is “Find Your Park,” and a website, www.FindYourPark.com, which was launched March 30, allows people to find their favorite national parks and share their stories.
The website celebrates the National Park Service’s centennial in 2016.
During the week, the park also will welcome Washington Coast Cleanup volunteers to park beaches April 25.
To learn more about helping with the cleanup, visit www.coastsavers.org.
For more about Junior Ranger Day, phone Dean Butterworth at 360-565-3146, email dean_butterworth@nps.gov or visit http://tinyurl.com/pdn-juniorrangerday and choose “Events.”
Visit www.NationalParkWeek.org to learn more about celebrations across the nation.
