In an effort to emphasize its stance on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to focus on America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, the Trump administration has removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from the fee-free days calendar at National Parks for 2026.
In their place are days honoring past presidents, like Theodore Roosevelt, and Flag Day, which coincidentally would be President Trump’s 80th birthday.
MLK Day and Juneteenth, both recognized as federal holidays, were added to the fee-free calendar in 2018 and 2024, respectively. The move also coincides with the Trump administration’s decision to pause public days of remembrance on both holidays, in tandem with Trump’s ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“This policy shift is deeply concerning,” Tyrhee Moore, the executive director of Soul Trak Outdoors, a nonprofit that connects urban communities of color to the outdoors, told SFGATE. Removing free-entry days on MLK Day and Juneteenth sends a troubling message about who our national parks are for. These holidays hold profound cultural and historical significance for Black communities, and eliminating them as access points feels like a direct targeting of the very groups who already face systemic barriers to the outdoors.”
Earlier this year, Trump drew criticism for holding military parades on Flag Day; however, the administration countered, stating that the parades were intended to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
“If anyone is still wondering whether or not America is slipping toward authoritarianism, Saturday’s military parade will signal to the world that we’ve firmly arrived,” Markus Batchelor, political director at People For the American Way, a progressive advocacy group, said at the time.
The 2025 calendar featured fee-free days on MLK Day, the first day of National Park Week on April 19, Juneteenth, the anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act on August 24, National Public Lands Day on September 27 and Veterans Day on November 11.
The new 2026 calendar has several days of remembrance removed beyond Juneteenth and MLK Day. In their place are Presidents Day on February 16, Memorial Day on May 25, the aforementioned Flag Day, Independence Day weekend from July 3 to July 5, the 110th birthday of the National Park Service on August 25, Constitution Day on September 17, and Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday on October 27. Veteran’s Day is the only holdover.
According to the National Park Foundation, the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior are the entities that decide on which days at national parks will be fee-free. Specific memorial sites, such as the MLK and Medgar Evers memorials, are already accessible to the public at no cost.
