Skip to Content
News

Free entry to National Parks during National Park Service’s 110th birthday

Armando Ramirez
By
Published 1:44 PM

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The National Park Service is celebrating National Park Week, which started Saturday, August 22, and ends on August 30, celebrating the people, places, and moments involving the National Parks.

While park sites across the United States celebrate the week with their own activities and events, the National Park Service will celebrate its 110th birthday. On their birthday, August 25, 2026, all entrance fees are waived for U.S. citizens and residents for national park sites across the United States.

What and where are the closest National Parks to the Borderland?

The three closest National Parks to El Paso and the rest of the Borderland include White Sands, Guadalupe Mountains, and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

White Sands National Park

White Sands National Park is located in New Mexico, about 90 miles North-Northeast of El Paso. The park features wave-like dunes of gypsum sand which cover 275 square miles of desert. Park officials say this makes White Sands National Park the world's largest gypsum dune field.

Photo Courtesy: Armando Ramirez

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

The Guadalupe Mountains National Park is located near Dell City, Texas, about 110 miles East of El Paso. The park features four of the highest mountain peaks in Texas, canyons, deserts, dunes, and a large area of the Permian fossil reef.

The image below shows El Capitan, which park officials say is the southernmost point of the Guadalupe Mountains. According to the National Park Service, El Capitan is 8,085 feet above sea level, making it the eighth highest peak in Texas.

Photo Courtesy: Armando Ramirez

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in Carlsbad, New Mexico, about 150 miles East of El Paso. The park features a portion of the northern Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem, a portion of an exposed fossilized reef in the canyons, and more than 119 limestone caves, which have stalagmites and stalactites spread throughout the caves as seen below.

Photo Courtesy: Armando Ramirez

For more information about the national parks or the events being hosted during National Park Week, click the link here.

Article Topic Follows: News

Jump to comments ↓

Armando Ramirez

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

KVIA ABC 7 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.