The National Park Service’s third entrance fee free weekend of the summer is August 15-16. All 391 national parks across the nation will offer free admission to all visitors.

Hitting yet another homerun for the GettingOutside community, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced in June that the National Park Service will offer three fee-free weekends this summer to stimulate tourism by encouraging Americans seeking affordable vacations to visit our national treasures.

“America’s national parks have always been popular vacation spots,” said Acting National Park Service Director Dan Wenk. “The fee free weekends were launched in June as a way to provide opportunities for everyone to visit national parks in these economically challenging times. Whether you can stay for just a few hours or the whole weekend, we hope you’ll take advantage of the free admission and come out and experience your national parks.”

The 147 National Park Service sites across the country that charge entrance fees have been scheduled to waive these fees for entry during the weekends of June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16, 2009. In total, there are 391 national parks located across the country in 49 states.

The national parks have hosted almost 200 million visitors so far this year. Visitation to national parks is up more than three percent from this time last year.

“During these tough economic times, our national parks provide opportunities for affordable vacations for families,” Salazar said at a press conference at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. “I encourage everyone to visit one of our nation’s crown jewels this summer and especially to take advantage of the three free-admission weekends.”

“National Parks also serve as powerful economic engines for local communities and we hope that promoting visitation will give a small shot in the arm to businesses in the area,” he said.

Meanwhile, many park partners including tour operators, hotels, restaurants, gift shops, and other vendors will offer additional discounts and special promotions on those dates.

Find Fee Free Parks by State: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparksbystate.htm

The entrance fees being waived at the 147 sites that usually charge for admission range from $3 to $25. The 244 other parks do not charge entrance fees. The waiver does not include other fees collected in advance or by contractors—such as fees charged for camping, reservations, tours and use of concessions.

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Most Americans live less than a day’s drive from a park. Nationwide, parks last year attracted more than 275 million recreation visits, and spending by non-local visitors provided $10.6 billion for local economies, supporting more than 213,000 jobs, not counting National Park Service jobs.

“Tourism income helps America’s economic recovery,” Salazar said. “National park sites in the Great Lakes states, for example, attract 8 million recreation visits a year that bring $211 million into the local economies. Spending by visitors from out of the area supports 4,400 local jobs. So these areas need to maintain and expand this vital tourism.”

Visiting Ohio for the first time as Secretary, Salazar also highlighted the $23 million the department is investing in the Buckeye State under President Obama’s economic recovery plan. This includes more than $7 million at Cuyahoga Valley National Park to repair the park’s historic railroad and tackle deferred maintenance projects that have been on the shelf for years.

“The investment we are making in Ohio will create jobs,” he said. “For example, here at Cuyahoga, we are improving a park that already attracts two and a half million people a year, pumps $38 million annually into the local economy and supports 1,000 jobs.”