Florida

Florida's National Parks Are Free This Weekend

Helloooo, mother nature!

As part of National Park Week, national parks nationwide are offering free admission this weekend, including several right here in the Sunshine State.

National Park Week is Americas biggest celebration of national heritage.

According to the National Park Service, National Park Week is all about making great connections, exploring amazing places, discovering open spaces, enjoying affordable vacations and enhancing America’s best idea—the national parks!

For South Floridians who want to keep it close to home, check out Everglades National Park or head over to Dry Tortugas National Park, roughly 70 miles west of Key West. If you're in the mood for a road trip, there are several other options just a drive away.

Here's a list of participating parks right here in Florida. Happy exploring!

Florida National Parks Participating in Free Entrance Day:

Canaveral National Seashore
Canaveral National Seashore has 13 federally-listed threatened and endangered animal species. This places it second among the approximately 380 National Park Service units.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
The Castillo de San Marcos was originally constructed to defend Florida against pirates hunting the Spanish treasure fleets traveling along the Gulf Stream.

Dry Tortugas National Park
Despite over 30 years of construction, massive Fort Jefferson was never truly completed on the islands of the Dry Tortugas. Advances in weapon technology would come to render the fort obsolete by 1862.

Everglades National Park
Limestone is the porous, sedimentary rock you see in the Everglades. These rocks are made of calcium and contain fossils of sea life, evidence of ancient seas that once covered the area. The limestone aquifer under the Everglades acts as the principal water recharge area for all of south Florida.

Gulf Islands National Seashore
Two 19th-century 15-inch Rodman cannons are at Gulf Islands National Seashore. The bottle-shaped barrels were cooled from the inside out at the foundry to make them stronger than earlier cannon.

For more information, visit the National Park Service.

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