This year, spend Juneteenth in a national park! Not only is it free, but several national parks sites offer events around the June 19 holiday. Juneteenth honors the date in 1865 when Black people in Galveston, TX, learned that slavery had been abolished. Why Galveston? Because it lies so far west, news of slaverys end took a while to get to the very edges of Confederacy, and slaveholders had little interest in helping the news spread.

　　This June 19 is one of only six days per year that visitors can get free access to any national park. After this months Juneteenth National Independence Day, the next one to come is August 4s anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act.

　　Since Juneteenth is part of African-American history, here are some national parks that offer some extra insight into the past. At Yosemite National Park, you can visit the History Center in the Wawona area to learn about the Buffalo soldiers. At Harpers Ferry National Park, you can hear about ally and abolitionist John Brown and the slave rebellion he incited in 1859. Bonus: this park is accessible by train after a half-mile walk from the Amtrak depot.

　　The National Park Service has organized events to commemorate Juneteenth. On a two-hour hike at Muir Woods National Monument in California, a park ranger will lead Juneteenth reflections on liberation, justice, and freedom, starting at 10am on June 19. At Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site in Mt. Vernon, New York, you can attend a six-hour event on Juneteenth with continuous demonstrations with costumed living historians and park staff, focusing on different aspects of the Civil War and slavery. The text of the original proclamation ending slavery in Texas will be read aloud, plus there will be music, a lecture, and the laying of wreaths on the graves of two Black soldiers who fought for the Union.

　　At First State National Historical Park in Delaware, you dont have to wait until June 19. Each day until June 20, the site will feature information about Black history in the state and prominent Black Delawareans. Theres also a Black History tour happening twice a day on Saturdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

　　All of these events are free, along with your entry into the park. Juneteenth was declared a national holiday in 2021.