News Release

Free entrance to national parks on Great American Outdoors Act anniversary

A break in a main water pipe creates a "geyser" in Death Valley National Park.

NPS

News Release Date: August 1, 2025

Contact: DEVA News

Contact: Abby Wines, 760-786-3221

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – As the 5^th anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act approaches, residents and staff at Death Valley National Park are thrilled about an upcoming major overhaul of the park’s largest water and wastewater systems. To celebrate the Act’s anniversary, all National Park Service sites will offer free park entrance on Monday, August 4.

Death Valley National Park’s water systems are aging and have suffered degradation due to extreme heat, dissolved minerals, and damage from flash floods. In 2024 alone, National Park Service (NPS) staff have repaired the park’s water systems 43 times, following 32 repairs in 2023 and 67 in 2022.

That is about to change.

The Great American Outdoors Act will provide approximately $62 million next year to complete critical upgrades to the park's largest water and wastewater infrastructure systems, which are in the Furnace Creek area.

The Great American Outdoors Act is a historic commitment to preserving and enhancing public lands. It funds priority projects across the nation’s parks, forests, and wildlife refuges using royalties from offshore oil and gas leases—not taxpayer dollars. Death Valley’s project is one of more than 180 major efforts nationwide aimed at modernizing facilities and improving recreational access.