Admission Waived At MD’s National Parks On Martin Luther King Jr. Day

MARYLAND — Places where Martin Luther King and others in the Civil Rights Movement made history are among 400 National Park Service facilities, including those in Maryland, that will waive admission fees on Monday in honor of King’s birthday.

MLK Day, observed every year on the third Monday of January, has been a federal holiday since 1986 and is a day off for many Americans. Facilities in Maryland that are waiving admission include:

• NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD, Antietam
• NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL, Appalachian
• NATIONAL SEASHORE, Assateague Island
• PARKWAY, Baltimore-Washington
• NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL, Captain John Smith Chesapeake
• PARK, Catoctin Mountain
• NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal
• Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake Bay Watershed
• Civil War Defenses of Washington, Remnants of 17 Civil War fortifications.
• NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Clara Barton
• PARK, Fort Foote
• NATIONAL MONUMENT AND HISTORIC SHRINE, Fort McHenry
• PARK, Fort Washington
• MEMORIAL PARKWAY, George Washington
• PARK, Glen Echo
• PARK, Greenbelt
• NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Hampton
• Harmony Hall
• NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, Harpers Ferry
• NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad
• NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD, Monocacy
• Oxon Cove Park & Oxon Hill Farm
• PARK, Piscataway
• NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL, Potomac Heritage
• NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL, Star-Spangled Banner
• NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Thomas Stone
• NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL, Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route

MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a day of service. Some of the places with special volunteer opportunities for visitors include the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta; the Selma to Montgomery Historic Trail, which traces the footsteps of King and other civil rights activists in the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama; and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Some events in Maryland include:

• Rockville's 52nd Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at Rockville High School. This free event features live performances, panel discussions and more.
• Free gathering at 4 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda that will celebrate King’s birthday through expressions in word, music and song.
• The Montgomery County Volunteer Center, which is associated with Americorps, will honor King through during the annual Day of Service and Volunteer Resource Fair. Dozens of local nonprofits and government agencies will host a variety of service projects and informational booths from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.

Other free admission days at national parks in 2024 are:

• April 20: First day of National Park Week
• June 19: Juneteenth National Independence Day
• Aug. 4: Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act
• Sept. 28: National Public Lands Day
• Nov. 11: Veterans Day