The Bureau of Land Management and the National Parks Service are waiving day use fees Saturday on public lands in honor of Veterans Day.
Sarah Bennett, a spokesperson for the BLM in the Pacific Northwest, said it’s one of several days throughout the year the agency waives fees so that anyone who wants it has the opportunity to get outside and enjoy their publicly owned lands.
BLM is waiving “the basic fees that people might have to pay to visit certain recreation areas like Yaquina Head lighthouse or Fisherman’s Bend Recreation Area,” Bennett said, referencing the popular lighthouse in Newport and the recreation area east of Salem.
Crater Lake, with Wizard Island center, is seen on July 17, 2021. Oregon's only national park is the deepest lake in the U.S.
Meagan Cuthill / OPB
Other fees, such as overnight camping, still apply, Bennett said.
“We’re doing it for Veterans Day to … help honor those that have served our country, and as a thank you too to veterans, many of whom after their service in the military have come and joined the Bureau of Land Management and helped us care for our public lands,” she said.
The Bureau of Land Management listed the following sites in Oregon and Washington as places that would not charge on Saturday:
- Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area
- Cape Blanco Lighthouse
- Wildwood Recreation Site
- Hyatt Lake Recreation Area
- Gerber Recreation Area
- Yakima River Canyon
- Loon Lake Recreation Site
- Alsea Falls Recreation Site
- Shotgun Creek Recreation Site
- Edson Creek Recreation Site
- Spring Recreation Site
- Fishermen’s Bend Recreation Site
The National Parks Service, too, is providing free entrance on Saturday in honor of the holiday. Popular destinations in Oregon include Crater Lake National Park. In Washington, they include the Olympic, Mount Rainer and North Cascades National Parks.
Closer to the Portland-area is the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington, which is also operated by the parks service.
Active military and their families are eligible for a free annual parks pass. Veterans and Gold Star Family members, whose loved ones have died in combat, are eligible for a free lifetime entrance pass.