The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will be offering two free days this month — Sunday and Sept. 26. The free days are in recognition of Girl Scouts Love State Parks Day and National Public Lands Day, respectively. On these two days, day-use visitors will not need a Discover Pass to visit state parks by vehicle.
Girl Scouts Love State Parks
This is the second time Washington State Parks, National Association of State Park Directors and Girl Scouts USA have partnered for this event. Prior to the event, there will be a virtual astronomy hour from Goldendale Observatory State Park Heritage Site from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday via Facebook Live. People are invited to join State Parks Interpretive Specialist Troy Carpenter for a presentation about stars — including the sun — and how stars appear in our sky and what people can see in dark skies versus city skies. Girl Scouts are encouraged to register for this event and will receive a special email Thursday with a link to the astronomy hour and Saturday’s Zoom workshop, a special printable State Park passport and bonus outdoor video content to view at leisure. Girl Scouts can work on their Space Science badge as part of this event.
The virtual astronomy hour is open to the public.
National Public Lands Day
The other free day in September is National Public Lands Day, which is coordinated by the National Environmental Education Foundation. This year, with concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, many public land sites will not be able to host large, in-person events. People can check out the NPLD website, www.neefusa.org/npld, to learn about this year's theme, “More Ways to Connect to Nature.”
The remaining 2020 State Parks free days are:
Oct. 10 — World Mental Health Day
Nov. 11 — Veterans Day
Nov. 27 — Autumn Day
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