About ED INITIATIVES
Every Kid in a Park

Agency: Multi-Agency Initiative

Program: Every Kid in a Park

Launched in September 2015, the Every Kid in a Park (EKIP) initiative provides all fourth grade students, including homeschooled students, and their families with free admission to national parks and other federal lands and waters for a full school year. This initiative facilitates valuable opportunities for fourth graders to explore, learn, and play in spectacular places and aims to inspire stewardship of these places for future generations. EKIP is an effort supported by the U.S. Department of the Interior (which includes the National Park Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Fourth graders can obtain a paper pass for free entry into all federal lands and waters by visiting the Every Kid in a Park website. Via the EKIP website, students participate in an educational activity and receive a paper pass to print and bring with them to visit public lands. At certain participating sites, fourth graders can exchange the paper pass for a durable plastic pass. The fourth grader must be present to exchange the paper pass for a plastic pass. Fourth graders can use either pass for free entry for themselves and their families. Passes are valid from September 1 through August 31 of the student's fourth grade year.

How it Works

  • If you visit a site that charges entrance fees per person— The pass admits all children under 16 and up to three adults for free.
  • If your group visits a site that charges vehicle entrance fees— The pass admits all children under 16 and all adults in up to one passenger vehicle. Commercial vehicles can't use a pass to get in.
  • If you arrive at a site on bicycle— The pass admits all children under 16 and up to three adults on bicycles.

Additional Information



   
Last Modified: 08/28/2019