Free Entry at National Parks Today for Teddy Roosevelt's Birthday — What Bay Area Visitors Should Know
Pinnacles is among the parks waiving entrance fees; timed-entry or reservation fees may still apply.
By the Bay Area Brief staff · Edited by Seamus McKenna · · 3 min read
The Golden Gate Bridge at sunset under a pink and purple sky. Photo: Umer Sayyam / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped, resized and color-graded). Archive photo of the area; not a photo of the events in this story.
Today, Tuesday, Oct. 27, National Park Service sites that normally charge an entrance fee are free in honor of Theodore Roosevelt's birthday, and the U.S. Forest Service is waiving standard amenity fees at national forest and grassland day-use areas, Local News Matters reported.
The fine print
Beginning in 2026, free entrance on fee-free days is for U.S. citizens and residents only; nonresidents pay the regular fee and any nonresident fees, according to the NPS.
Other fees — including timed entry or reservation fees — may still apply.
Many Bay Area national park units don't charge entrance at all; the waiver matters most at fee-charging sites. Pinnacles National Park near Soledad is among those waiving fees today, Local News Matters noted.
The NPS says all entrance fee money stays with the Park Service, and at least 80% stays in the park where it was collected. Check a park's page before you go for parking and reservation rules.
Sources
This article is an original summary based on the following reporting. We encourage readers to visit the original sources for full coverage.
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