PARKS -- The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday three-day weekend, Jan. 14-16, will be the first of 10 Washington State Parks “free access days” in 2012. 

The Discover Pass will not be required for vehicles at state parks.

Most of State Parks free days are in alignment with free days offered by the National Park Service.

The “free days” are in keeping with legislation that created the Discover Pass, a $30 annual or $10 one-day permit required on state-managed recreation lands managed by Washington State Parks, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Natural Resources.

The Discover Pass legislation provided that State Parks could designate up to 12 “free days” when the pass would not be required to visit state parks. The free days only apply at state parks. A Discover Pass will still be required to access DFW and DNR lands.

In addition, Sno-Park permits will continue to be required on vehicles at designated lots such as the three at Mount Spokane plowed during winter by the Sno-Park Program. 

Following are the 2012 Washington State Parks “free days:”

• Jan. 14-16 – Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
• March 18-19 – Washington State Parks’ 99^th birthday (March 19).
• June 9 – National Get Outdoors Day.
• Sept. 29 – National Public Lands Day.
• Nov. 10-12 – Veterans Day weekend.