U.S. National Park Service overhauls free admission days to include Trump’s birthday

Visitors hike the Mist Trail toward Vernal Falls on Aug. 31, 2025 in the Yosemite National Park, California. Due the high volume of visitors during Labor Day weekend, Yosemite required reservations for in-park lodging or camping, and wilderness or Half Dome permits. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

National park visitors will receive free admission on U.S. President Donald Trump’s birthday next year, but will have to pay a regular fee on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, after the National Park Service overhauled its free admission calendar.

Admission fees have been waived on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for years, including throughout Trump’s first administration. Juneteenth was added as an entrance fee free day in 2024.

The changes come as Trump has made eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts a centerpiece of his administration. Earlier this year, on Juneteenth — the oldest regular US celebration of the end of slavery — the president criticized the number of “non-working holidays” in the United States, which he claimed “is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.”

Along with Trump’s birthday — which is on June 14 and also marks Flag Day — the 2026 calendar for waived admission days also adds U.S. Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, three days for July 4 weekend, the 110th birthday of NPS on Aug. 25, U.S. Constitution Day on Sept. 17 and former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday on Oct. 27. Roosevelt is considered to be “the conservationist president,” and made several contributions to the National Park System, including doubling the number of sites during his presidency, according to the NPS website.

The calendar also removes first day of National Park Week, the Bureau of Land Management’s birthday, Great American Outdoors Day, National Public Lands Day and the first Sunday of National Wildlife Refuge Week.

Visitors will continue to enjoy free admission on Veterans Day.

The free admission will only apply to US residents, as the Department of Interior recently unveiled an “America-first” fee system that would require international tourists to pay the standard fee, along with US$100 extra per person at 11 of the most visited national parks, starting January 1, 2026. The annual pass will cost non-U.S. residents $250, more than triple the standard $80 which U.S. residents will continue to pay.

CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo and Yahya Salem contributed to this report.

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN