To celebrate the connections between our national leaders and national parks, all 401 National Park Service sites will have free admission during Presidents Day weekend, February 15th through February 17th.

Date: February 12, 2014
Contact: Tricia Ford, [phone]

To celebrate the connections between our national leaders and national parks, all 401 National Park Service sites will have free admission during Presidents Day weekend, February 15th through February 17th.

"Every U.S. president has visited, resided in, or been honored in a national park," said National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis. "Sites such as George Washington's birthplace, Ulysses Grant's battlefields and Jimmy Carter's farm provide insight into the character of the men who have governed our country. Visit a national park and walk in their footsteps. See where they lived and learned, relaxed and recharged, experienced triumphs and tribulations."

Whiskeytown National Recreation Area recently celebrated the 50^th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's dedication of the Clair A. Hill Dam on September 28, 1963.President Kennedy also visited nearby Lassen Volcanic National Park the day before as part of his National Conservation Tour.Many area residents still remember his unforgettable visit to our local parks.

Take the advice of Theodore Roosevelt – perhaps the president most associated with national parks – and visit one of America's special places. In his words, "There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children's children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred."

In addition, during these three fee-free days Western National Parks Association is offering a 15% off sale on all store merchandise at the Whiskeytown Visitor Center.

The National Park Service will also waive admission fees on five additional days in 2014 – the first weekend of National Park Week (April 19 and 20), the National Park Service's 98th birthday (August 25), National Public Lands Day (September 27) and Veterans Day (November 11). National park passes that provide free or discounted admission year round are available for active duty military members and their dependents, senior citizens, and people with permanent disabilities.