Admission fees waived for Florida state parks for Memorial Day Weekend, DeSantis says
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
NAPLES, Fla. (WFLA) — Planning to make a trip to one of Florida’s state parks for this Memorial Day Weekend? Congratulations, getting in will now be free this year.
Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the entrance fees for all of Florida’s 175 state parks will be suspended for that holiday weekend.
USF students plan another protest despite serious consequences
The governor said the hope is that by waiving the fees, it will bring more visitors, and their money, to Florida.
“I think part of the reason people have come to Florida is we have the best beaches, we have the best fishing, and we have the best state parks in the entire country,” DeSantis said. “In fact, our Florida state parks at 29 million visitors in 2023, and that generates an annual economic impact of $3.6 billion.”
According to the governor, Florida set a record last year for summer visitors, with 35.1 millions visitors coming to Florida between July and September.
DeSantis also praised the quality of the Florida’s state parks, saying that the state earned four gold medals from the National Parks and Recreation Association.
“Last fall, we introduced a great outdoors initiative and between October 2023 and January of this year, we provided a 50% discount on Florida state park passes and on gold Sportsman fishing and hunting licenses,” he said. “And what you saw because of that initiative, we sold more 55000 passes including more than 40,000 family park passes which is quadruple the number of passes sold during the same period last year.”
Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez said having visited 20 of the state’s parks, she has had the opportunity to get up close and personal with nature — including manatees, lobsters and of course, alligators.
“No two parks are the same,” she said. “Each one has something unique and different for every age, for every interest, for every hobby.”
To find a state park near you, click here.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
