The National Parks Honor Our Veterans

Several historic sites around the nation will say thank you on Nov. 11.

THERE ARE MANY WAYS... to show gratitude throughout the year to the people who have served our country, and especially on Nov. 11, when some of the most profound ways to remember and honor happen at some of the most epic of places, and places imbued with silence. We speak of the national parks, which not only contain a number of historic sites with emotion-tinged ties to our veterans, but also symbolize our country for many, and its vast beauty. Finding a place of solitude to reflect on the history of the occasion, and your time in the service or the time of someone you love, can be done by finding the nature- or monument-focused spot nearest your town. Or if you want to be at a place with a specific story that holds meaning for the day, that's possible, too. How to observe Veterans Day, then, via the National Park Service? You can begin by entering a park that's...

WAIVED THE ADMISSION: Those national parks that charge an entry fee will forgo that fee on Wednesday, Nov. 11. (Just over a fourth of the parks do charge, if you're wondering.) There are a few days a year when those parks put up the proverbial "no admission" sign, and Veterans Day is the final one on the calendar (with the next being Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, at the start of the new year). In California, both Yosemite National Park and Joshua Tree National Park have entry fees on most days, so consider either place for your quiet autumn outing and reflection.

FORT POINT NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE: It's a Civil War landmark, where "500 men were garrisoned" back during the conflict, and it sits today very near the Golden Gate Bridge. The National Park Foundation included it in "A Salute to Our Veterans" list, a list that includes several places around the U.S. that might make a meaningful Veterans Day destination for travelers and locals alike. Want to know more about the fort, which has stood since 1861, and its legacy.

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