Free Entrance to National Parks for Veterans and Gold Star Families

[DandyDon]

Wow, good to know! I have a national park about 30 minutes away from me at Saguaro National Park East.

My kids and I flew out there last year as I'd always wanted to see Saguaros in person. We didn't have to leave the airport to see those, but I enjoyed the lovely drive around the east park while waiting on them to catch up after they were delayed by storms. I picked them up the next day, we toured the west park, then drove west to spend the night in an old mining town near Organ Pipe NP, another I'd always wanted to visit. We crossed several dips with flowing water, one that scared me a little, but made it ok. My brother thought it was odd to fly that far just to see cactuses, but our other travels never took us close enough for a side trip. I enjoyed visiting all of the parks as well as the oasis at Organ Pipe NP before the fence project.

 

[azstinger11]

Wow, good to know! I have a national park about 30 minutes away from me at Saguaro National Park East. Maybe I can drop by there tomorrow afternoon and see if they can do the same thing....

I think you can get them at National monuments too like Casa Grande Ruins.

In college I’d bike through Saguaro East all the tim!

 

[apenland01]

Yeah, the East is a nice easy cruise. Since it's a National Park, I might be able to do the sign up there, so I'm hopeful...

 

[Hoag]

Many of these benefits used to extend to "active duty military, veterans, or those of allied nations". I spent almost my entire career in NORAD and almost half of it stationed in the USA. I notice that the phrase "or those of allied nations" has been removed.

 

[letterboy]

The VA sends out an email that has good information about resources and information for Veterans.

Some of the information is pure propaganda, but there is also good tid bits like the National Park Pass information and the status of the VA in your area and nationwide.

Veteran Resources - U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

 

[apenland01]

Let me know if your application goes to review and/or when you are approved.

Okay, finally got it submitted and it's "in review". It then goes to approval, then sent to printer, then mailed. God knows how long that will take lol....

 

[DandyDon]

Okay, finally got it submitted and it's "in review". It then goes to approval, then sent to printer, then mailed. God knows how long that will take lol....

At a NP or online? Mine has been stuck in review for two weeks now.

Younger Vets need to take care to keep up with their DD-214. Replacing mine was not difficult at the time, but did slow me down on other needs.

 

[letterboy]

At a NP or online? Mine has been stuck in review for two weeks now.

Younger Vets need to take care to keep up with their DD-214. Replacing mine was not difficult at the time, but did slow me down on other needs.

I got my card in Puerto Rico, at the Morro in San Juan. Took all of ~30 minutes. Most of that time was them tracking someone down to do the paperwork.

I showed them a digital copy of my dd214 and VA statement showing a disability that comes right from the VA website.

Almost as easy as when I got the Florida state park pass, walked up showed them the letter from the VA and my VA ID card and they handed me the card.

 

[apenland01]

The National Park said they could sell me the annual pass, but couldn't do the Veteran ID Card. I had to submit the request online. I finally just unfroze my credit reports and verified identity that way. It went into review and they said they would email once it was approved, sent to the printer, then mailed....

 

[letterboy]

The National Park said they could sell me the annual pass, but couldn't do the Veteran ID Card. I had to submit the request online. I finally just unfroze my credit reports and verified identity that way. It went into review and they said they would email once it was approved, sent to the printer, then mailed....

Interesting.