YOSEMITE — Yosemite National Park will celebrate the Centennial, 100 years of the National Park Service, on Aug. 25. In honor of this historic milestone, park entrance fees will be waived Thursday, Aug. 25, through Sunday, Aug. 28. Camping fees and all other fees will still be applicable.
The park will host many special Centennial programs throughout the park during this time, including a hike to the Top of Lembert Dome, a program on Stephen T. Mather and the Founding of the National Park Service, horse-drawn stage rides, and tours of Pioneer Yosemite History Center.
For more information about all of the Centennial events in the park, please visit www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/guide.htm.
“We are very excited about the NPS Centennial and the special programs taking place here in Yosemite in honor of the founding of the National Park Service,” says Don Neubacher, Park Superintendent. “We encourage all visitors to find your park and to help celebrate this historic milestone.”
Aug. 25 is the 100th Birthday of the U.S. National Park Service. President Woodrow Wilson signed the NPS Organic Act on Aug. 25, 1916, establishing the National Park Service as an agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Today, the National Park Service manages 412 units across the United States and its territories, including 59 national parks, national monuments, national historical sites, national lakeshores, national seashores, national battlefields and more.
Yosemite National Park celebrated its 125th Anniversary last year. The park welcomes over four million visitors from all over the world each year and serves as a strong economic engine for the region and local communities. Yosemite National Park generates $535 million in economic benefit to the local region. The park is home to Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall in North America, and iconic rock formations such as Half Dome and El Capitan. The park also features approximately 90 different species of mammals and over 1500 species of flowering plants.
