Death Valley National Park National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior	CA Highway 190 PO Box 579 Death Valley, CA 92328   phone 760.786.3200
Death Valley National Park News Release

Free Entrance to Death Valley National Park on Veterans Day

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – In celebration of Veterans Day, Death Valley National Park will offer free entrance to all visitors on Monday, November 11. This opportunity allows everyone to honor and recognize the contributions of this nation’s veterans.

Ever since the establishment of Camp Sheridan in Yellowstone National Park in 1886, both veterans and soldiers have played an integral role in the protection and preservation of national parks across the country. Today, more than 4,000 veterans are employed by the National Park Service – in a wide variety of career fields – accounting for almost 20% of the total work force.

“For many years, nearby military bases have provided critical assistance to Death Valley National Park,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “They rescued hikers, help cleanup illegal marijuana grow sites, and have neutralized old, unstable explosives. We also work closely with our Department of Defense partners as Death Valley National Park is partially overlayed by a military low level flight testing area, which was included when the park was expanded and reclassified from a Monument to a National Park in 1994.”

In February, hikers found sixty-year-old dynamite in a safe at a remote abandoned mine site. Navy explosive experts safely disposed of the dynamite.

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake’s rescue helicopter squadron, the VX-31 “Dust Devils”, helped with several search and rescue operations this year. Most recently, they came to the aid of a stranded hiker who attempted to summit a challenging peak in the Cottonwood Mountains in August.

This Veterans Day, the National Park Service is waiving entrance fees to National Park Service sites for all visitors. Camping and other fees still apply. Veterans, active duty service members and their dependents, and Gold Star families always qualify for a free American the Beautiful – National Parks & Federal Recreation Lands Military Pass all year long.

-www.nps.gov/deva-

Death Valley National Park is the homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone and preserves natural resources, cultural resources, exceptional wilderness, scenery, and learning experiences within the nation’s largest conserved desert landscape and some of the most extreme climate and topographic conditions on the planet. Learn more at www.nps.gov/deva. 

NPS/ A. Stiltz
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake’s VX-31 lands in Death Valley National Park.