Thread: National parks are free this weekend

National parks are free this weekend

August 13th, 2009,
by Marla Jo Fisher, Staff Writer

In case you have a hankering to get out of town this weekend, hit Yosemite or maybe watch the thermometer crack 120 in Death Valley, it won’t cost you any admission fees this weekend.

The National Park Service is waiving its normal fees, usually $20-25, this Saturday and Sunday for all visitors. The concession companies that run the hotels and dining establishments are also running specials to tempt you in as well.

So maybe this is a good weekend to head up to Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park, or over to Joshua Tree National Park. It will be hot in Joshua Tree during the day, but beautiful at night with amazing starry skies.

http://ocdeals.freedomblogging.com/2009 ... s-weekend/

Day-use, camping fees up at CA. state parks

Money needed to offset billions in budget deficits

By Michael Gardner, Tanya Mannes and Janine Zúñiga
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
2:00 a.m. August 13, 2009

STATE PARK FEES BY THE NUMBERS
$65 Coastal RV hookup with ocean view, $21 to $26 increase
$55 Coastal RV hookup no ocean view, $21 to 26 increase
$50 Coastal campsite with ocean view, $10 to $15 increase
$35 Coastal campsite no ocean view, $10 to $15 increase
$30 Palomar/Cuyamaca campsite, $10 increase
$25-$35 Anza-Borrego campsite, $5 to $6 increase
$10 Day parking, $2 increase at beaches, $4 mountain and desert

SOURCE: California Department of Parks and Recreation.
Settled under a canopy, Harris Taylor was relaxing at South Carlsbad State Beach with his family, happy to have a reserved spot in a campground where hopeful visitors can sometimes line up for hours just in case there's a no-show.
“It's our first time here, but it's not going to be the last — that's for sure,â€