Veterans Free Access to National Sites Across America
Veterans and Gold Star families traveling to Hendersonville for the holidays or throughout the year can take advantage of the free access program to over 2,000 federal recreational areas including national parks, wildlife refuges, and forests, and the waters managed by the Corps of Engineers. This would include other sites managed by the Department of the Interior nationwide. The program is in cooperation with Operation Live well and is the government’s way to say thank you to active or retired veterans for their service to our country. The program became effective on Veterans Day, 11 November 2020. For more information on the program, check the Free Access for Veterans and Gold Star Families on the National Park Service page.
The agencies participating in the program include:
- Bureau of Land Management
- Bureau of Reclamation
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- The U.S. Forest Service
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
There are several parks and attractions managed by the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior around Hendersonville. They include the famed Carl Sandburg Historical site in Flat Rock, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. For the traveling veteran access to the many areas managed by the Department of the Interior offers a welcome place to rest while exploring the nation while traveling.
The program is open to the veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces and includes the National Guard and Reserves. To gain access all that is needed is a DoD identification card (CAC), a Veteran medical insurance card, Veteran ID card, or Veteran designation on a U.S. issued state driver’s license or state ID card. For active duty service members, free access is available with a Military Pass through the America the Beautiful – the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Program.
Veterans and active duty service members traveling to Hendersonville are now more enjoyable through these programs.
