JACKSON, WY - JUNE 13: A couple parks on the side of the road to have lunch in Grand Teton National Park on June 13, 2020 outside Jackson Wyoming. Teton National Park is in the process of a Phased re-opening after the COVID-19 shutdown with many of the trails and roads open but the visitor centers, hotels and restaurants still closed. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
JACKSON, WY - JUNE 13: A couple parks on the side of the road to have lunch in Grand Teton National Park on June 13, 2020 outside Jackson Wyoming. Teton National Park is in the process of a Phased re-opening after the COVID-19 shutdown with many of the trails and roads open but the visitor centers, hotels and restaurants still closed. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
George Frey/Getty Images
CNN  — 

The US National Park Service offers free entry a handful of times each year to all of its more than 400 sites. We’re at the last one for 2022.

September 24 marks another free entry day to all National Park Service sites that usually charge an entrance fee.

This free day is in celebration of National Public Lands Day.

It was established in 1994 and held annually on the fourth Saturday in September. The NPS says the day “is traditionally the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort.”

So what’s free?

Visitors flock to Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in Maine to watch the sunrise.
Visitors flock to Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in Maine to watch the sunrise.
Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Portland Press Herald/Getty Images

All entrance fees. That includes not only those marquee national parks such as Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone and Yosemite, but all other types of sites the NPS manages:

• Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland
• Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park in Georgia and Tennessee
• Fort Davis National Historic Site in Texas
• Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Maryland
• Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Oregon and Washington
• Golden Spike National Historic Park in Utah
• Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial in Ohio
• Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi

Click here for a full listing of every NPS site, which it calls “units.”

Most NPS sites are free all year anyway. Only 108 charge a fee. And as you’d suspect, it’s mostly the big names that ask you to pay to enter: Places such as Arches in Utah, Rocky Mountain in Colorado and Shenandoah in Virginia.

But they’re all free this Friday.

One catch: “The entrance fee waiver for fee-free days does not cover amenity or user fees for activities such as camping, boat launches, transportation or special tours,” the NPS says.

Planning pays off

The Temple of Osiris, a rock formation, is just one of the amazing sites at the Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. A private vehicle pass, good for seven days, is usually $35 there.
The Temple of Osiris, a rock formation, is just one of the amazing sites at the Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. A private vehicle pass, good for seven days, is usually $35 there.
Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images

If you’re not much of a planner, it might be a good idea to develop the habit – particularly if you want to see a popular NPS site on a free day.

Of those 420+ sites in the National Park System, the top 25 got more than half of the system’s total number of visits last year. Some parks set all-time records for visitors in 2021.

Extra fees, advanced reservations, special passes, lotteries and caps on the number of visitors are all in play in 2022.

Don't like crowds? See the least-visited national parks

If you have a particular site you wish to visit, make sure to check its website first. For instance, popular Yosemite National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains can be open in November, but unpredictable autumn snows can cause short-term closures.

Missed out on this free day? There’s one more left in 2022: Friday, November 11 (Veterans Day).

Top image: Grand Teton National Park outside Jackson, Wyoming. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)