How every fourth grader can get free admission to national parks

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Every American family with a fourth grader is eligible for a free pass to the U.S.’s National Parks.

To be eligible, families need to have at least one student in fourth grade and apply online.

Fourth grade educators can also apply to get passes for everyone in their class.

The pass is good for admission to any national park until Aug. 31, 2020, though it appears the National Park Service may continue to offer the program in the future.

It’s worth noting that children under the age of 16, which would be most fourth graders, are always admitted free to national parks, but this pass does save having to pay for up to three family members over that age.

Families must print out the pass and bring it with them to the park entrance or leave it on the dashboard of their vehicle for unattended parks — the NPS isn’t set up to handle digital passes.

The pass also only covers the basic “per vehicle” entrance fees or entrance fees for the student plus up to three adults for non commercial vehicles.

It doesn’t count toward parking fees, camping, boat rentals, special tours or local, state or other fees. It also won’t work at facilities that are privately operated.

A similar pass that lets you share the benefits with another family is available for purchase for $80 per year.