Did you know that the National Parks offer a free pass for students finishing 4th grade? It’s a great program called the Every Kid in Outdoors park pass and it’s good for one year. The pass gets everyone in your vehicle into the park free of charge.
“A federal public lands youth initiative to get all 4th graders and their families to experience the places that are home to our country’s natural treasures, rich history, and vibrant culture.”
Here’s how it works. Go go the National Parks website, Every Kid Outdoors. From there, your 4th grader has to complete an activity online and it will end with their pass voucher which you need to print and save. When you go to your first park, for us it was Mammoth Caves, show them the print out and they will give you an official looking, plastic card park pass. My daughter was beyond thrilled to put this in her wallet and be the one to get us access to great adventures.
Side note – while you’re at the parks, stop by the visitor center and ask about the Junior Ranger program. They’ll give you an activity packet for the kids to complete and a Junior Park Ranger pin that looks like an official badge. We’re going to turn theirs into Christmas ornaments!
The kids completed the Junior Park Ranger packet at Petrified Forest National Park and earned their Jr. Ranger badge.
We didn’t actually need the pass at Mammoth Caves because entry was free. We did use it at Petrified Forest National Park where we saved $25 and Walnut Canyon National Monument where we would have paid $15 per person. We’ll use at Grand Canyon and a few others along our travel route this summer.
The kids and my parents at Petrified Forest National Park.
Each time we entered the gate they asked to see the fourth grader to verify we were legit. Then, after we passed through, my daughter proudly says, “You’re welcome guys!”.
If you don’t have a fourth grader, no worries, there are other park pass options. My dad has the America the Beautiful Senior Lifetime pass which was $80 and no annual renewal. This has been helpful with camping discounts at National Forest campgrounds.
You can check out all of their park pass options on the National Forest website. Now get out and explore!
Walnut Canyon National Monument – if you look closely you can see the cliff dwellings.
Originally published July 2021
