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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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State Parks access free on Black Friday; no pass required

An aerial view above the Bowl and Pitcher in Riverside State Park, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
An aerial view above the Bowl and Pitcher in Riverside State Park, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

PARKS -- Washington State Parks are offering their own sort of deal for Black Friday -- free access.

Entrance fees and Discover Pass requirements for vehicles will be waived on the day after Thanksgiving. The passes cost $10 a day or $30 for a year.

This is the first year that Washington State Parks has added Black Friday to a list of about a dozen days each year that state parks such as Riverside and Mount Spokane waive day-use fees. The parks are celebrating Black Friday as "Autumn Day."

Oregon also will offering the fee-free holiday -- Green Day -- at the 26 parks that usually charge a $5 parking fee.

REI started a trend of getting out on Black Friday in 2015 when the retailer closed its stores for the big shopping day.

That announcement inspired the Oregon parks department to follow suit, and waive all parking fees for the day. The event has been sealed as an annual Oregon tradition, and has spread this year with Washington State Parks jumping on the bandwagon. 



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

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