Admission to national parks and other federal public lands across the nation will be free on Saturday to mark National Public Lands Day.
Colorado State Parks will still require admission fees, however, and Rocky Mountain National Park will still require a reservation to gain entry. Rocky’s reservation requirement remains in effect until Oct. 10.
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Not everyone uses the day to recreate and celebrate the arrival of autumn, which begins Thursday. National Public Lands Day is the largest single day of volunteer projects on America’s public lands, according to the National Environmental Education Foundation, which coordinates the nationwide effort. More than a million people have participated over the past decade.
Several of the volunteer opportunities are listed on NEEF’s National Public Lands Day volunteer project locator.
One project will close U.S. 6 in Clear Creek Canyon between Golden and Colorado 119 from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for a Jefferson County Open Space project. More than 500 volunteers will be picking up trash, restoring habitat and working on erosion control features in a 13-mile stretch of the canyon.
Saturday will be the fourth of five free days at national parks this year. The final one will occur Nov. 11 in commemoration of Veteran’s Day.
