Go Play! Free Entrance to all National Parks September 27, 2014

This Saturday, September 27, celebrate National Public Lands Day by heading to a national park to play, learn, serve, or work.

The 21^st annual event will feature free admission to every National Park Service site, as well as special activities and volunteer work projects at 60 national parks across the country in honor of National Public Lands Day. So count on making this one of your first fall trips, one on which you can do good and do well at the same time.

Make it a weekend and spend a day apple picking too.

Celebrate our National Parks and Historic Sites

Many parks will host special ranger programs and events, including a star party at Craters of the Moon National Memorial and Preserve, a Fall Fiesta at Bandelier National Monument, the Peanut Festival at Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, a wilderness fair at Joshua Tree National Park, the Mountain Festival at City of Rocks, and Music and Art in the Mountains at Blue Ridge Parkway.

Give Back to our National Parks

Last year, about 175,000 volunteers worked at 2,237 sites in every state, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.  Every volunteer will receive a free pass for a future visit to a national park. Projects suited to almost any age or skill level include leading weed-eating goats around the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site, restoring wetlands at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, cleaning the beach at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and rehabilitating a campground at Prince William Forest Park.

Maple trees will reach their peak of coloration in late September in the northeast and mid Atlantic states.

Guide to Family Volunteer Opportunities at National Parks and Historic Sites

Here's a state-by-state guide of national parks that will host volunteer projects on National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 27. Visit NPLD.org for more information:

Alabama: Little River Canyon National Preserve, Russell Cave National Monument

Alaska: Sitka National Historical Park

Arizona: Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Saguaro National Park

Arkansas: Arkansas Post National Memorial

California: Channel Islands National Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, John Muir National Historic Site, Lava Beds National Monument, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Yosemite National Park

Colorado: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Connecticut: Weir Farm National Historic Site

Delaware: First State National Monument

Washington, DC: National Capital Parks- East, National Mall and Memorial Parks

Florida: Everglades National Park, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Georgia; Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

Hawaii: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Indiana: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Maryland: C&O Canal National Historical Park, Monocacy National Battlefield

Massachusetts: Minute Man National Historical Park

Michigan: Keweenaw National Historical Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Minnesota: Pipestone National Monument

Mississippi: Vicksburg National Military Park

Missouri: George Washington Carver National Monument

Nebraska: Homestead National Monument of America

Nevada: Lake Mead National Recreation Area

New Hampshire: Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site

New Jersey: Patterson Great Falls National Monument

New York: Gateway National Recreation Area

North Carolina: Cape Lookout National Seashore, Carl Sandburg National Historic Site

Ohio: James A. Garfield National Historic Site, William Howard Taft National Historic Site

Oklahoma: Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Oregon: Oregon Caves National Monument

Pennsylvania: Valley Forge National Historical Park

Puerto Rico: San Juan National Historic Site

South Dakota: Jewell Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park

Tennessee: Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Shiloh National Military Park

Texas: Big Bend National Park, Padre Island National Seashore

Utah: Arches National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Zion National Park

Virginia: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Prince William Forest Park, Shenandoah National Park, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts,

Washington: Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Mount Rainier National Park, San Juan Island National Historical Park

Wyoming: Devils Tower National Monument, Yellowstone National Park