If you’re looking for ways to take advantage of the long weekend for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, consider the national parks. From January 14-16, entry to all 397 national parks is free. (Although the parks you’re familiar with may not charge fees, more than 100 national parks do; to see the list of parks that are fee-free only on designated fee-free dates, click here.)

Specifically MLK, Jr. and Civil Rights themed parks and monuments include the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia (MLK, Jr.’s birthplace), the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Alabama that follows the route of the 1965 Civil Rights March, and the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Certain parks are also holding events to commemorate Dr. King, including tributes at the D.C. Memorial, Morristown National Historical Park in New Jersey, Fort Donelson National Battlefield in Tennessee, and Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Washington, D.C. (where the tribute is an MLK Film Festival).

Be sure to check out other parks as well, especially as many of them are still enjoying fairly mild weather. (If you can make it to Yosemite, check to see if the seasonal roads are open; the snowless winter has kept the seasonal areas open later into the winter than usual.)

Be sure to check out our Top 10 National Parks Hikes, then use our Travel Search price comparison tool to plan your trip.