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America's 398 national parks will offer everyone free admission during the Veterans Day weekend in honor of those that serve and have served in the United States military. Joshua Tree National Park will waive its entrance fees from Saturday, November 10 through Monday, November 12. Camping fees and fees for Keys Ranch Tours will still be collected. "National parks preserve places that commemorate our country's collective heritage - our ideals, our majestic lands, our sacred sites, our patriotic icons - which our military has defended through the years," said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. "We are grateful for the service and sacrifice of military members, past and present, and honored to tell their story at many of our national parks." From frontier forts to World War II battlefields, more than 70 national parks have direct connections to the military. These include our earliest national parks where army engineers designed park roads and buildings and the cavalry enforced regulations from 1886 until the National Park Service was established in 1916. At Joshua Tree, remains of World War II era observation posts can be found, and the desert surrounding the 1940s-era Joshua Tree National Monument was home to numerous U.S. Army training camps commanded by General George Patton. The park is also a good location for current active duty personnel to pick up the new Military Pass to America's national parks. This new benefit for active duty personnel and their families provides free entry to national parks and other federal public lands for a one-year period. The pass can be obtained at park entrance stations and visitor centers. The Oasis Visitor Center in Twentynine Palms and the Joshua Tree Visitor Center in the community of Joshua Tree are open daily from 8 am to 5 pm. Visitors planning a trip to Joshua Tree National Park in November should be aware that starting Monday, November 5, there will be road repair work taking place on Park Route 11, the Pinto Basin Road. A contract slurry seal and road striping project from Mile 18 to Mile 28 will reduce traffic to one-lane of travel over short stretches, and visitors will encounter road crews and traffic control throughout the project area. In conjunction with the contract, the parking area at the Cottonwood Visitor Center and the road to the Cottonwood Springs Oasis will also be re-striped. Visitors are urged to drive cautiously in construction zones and obey all traffic control personnel. The Pinto Basin Road repair work will be completed on November 16. The road repair work in the Pinto Basin will be suspended during the three-day Veteran's Day holiday from November 10-12. For more information you may call the park at 760-367-5500. |
Last updated: February 28, 2015