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Did Trump take MLK Day away? National Parks dropped it from free days.

A view of El Capitan, from El Capitan meadow, on July 12, 2023, inside California’s Yosemite National Park. (Marc Martin/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
By Kinsey Crowley USA TODAY

The Trump administration has made some changes to the National Park Service’s free days, removing holidays that have been on the list for years and adding new ones.

Two of the removed holidays celebrate Black history: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, honoring the work of the civil rights leader who advocated to end racism and segregation; and Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the day the last group of enslaved people learned they were free after the Union won the Civil War.

President Donald Trump has made rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion a key priority of his second administration. The Department of the Interior did not respond to requests for comments on explaining the changes to the NPS fee-free days, though, removing the Black history holidays has drawn criticism.

Here is what to know about the changes:

Did Trump remove MLK Day and Juneteenth from NPS free days?

Yes.

Juneteenth, a federal holiday since 2021, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day were included in the National Park Service’s free-entry days in 2024 and 2025.

But in the NPS changes for 2026, those dates are not on the list of the free entrance days.

Trump on Juneteenth earlier this year complained there were “too many non-working holidays,” though he did not name the holiday.

Other dates that were previously included in the free entrance days but have been removed for 2026 are April 19 (the first day of National Park Week), July 16 (Bureau of Land Management’s birthday), Aug. 4 (Great American Outdoors Day), Sept. 27 (National Public Lands Day), and Oct. 12 (National Wildlife Refuge Week).

Will national parks be free on Trump’s birthday?

Yes. For 2026, NPS also added other free entrance days, including:

  • Feb. 16: Presidents Day (Washington’s Birthday)
  • May 25: Memorial Day
  • June 14: Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday
  • July 3-5: Independence Day weekend
  • Aug. 25: 110th Birthday of the National Park Service
  • Sept. 17: Constitution Day
  • Oct. 27: Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday

In 2025 and 2026, Veterans Day (Nov. 11) has been a free entrance day.

NPS makes other changes for non-US residents

The free entrance days will only apply to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. International visitors will have to pay the fees, unless they have a non-resident annual pass, which will cost $250.

Additionally, non-residents over the age of 16 will have to pay an additional $100 in addition to the regular park fee (if they don’t have the annual pass) at the following locations:

  • Acadia National Park
  • Bryce Canyon National Park
  • Everglades National Park
  • Glacier National Park
  • Grand Canyon National Park
  • Grand Teton National Park
  • Rocky Mountain National Park
  • Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park
  • Yellowstone National Park
  • Yosemite National Park
  • Zion National Park