5 ways to celebrate National Public Lands Day

Celebrate Public Lands Day in Virginia State Parks

Take advantage of free parking, volunteer opportunities and more on National Public Lands Day at Virginia State Parks on September 23. Here are five ways to celebrate!

Within your 42 Virginia State Parks, there are 80,000 acres of public lands set aside for Virginians to enjoy. Parking fees are waived* for you on National Public Lands Day (NPLD) so that there’s no barrier for you to explore.

For those who want to give back, you can join thousands across the nation who opt to support public lands by volunteering on this day. If you’ve ever volunteered at a park, you know that it’s so satisfying to do your part to better the lands we collectively own. It’s also a great opportunity to make fellow outdoor-loving friends, earn useful skills and support your well-being just by being in nature.

While volunteering is at the heart of National Public Lands Day, you may need to start with just exploring and getting to know your parks first. Did you know there’s a state park within an hour’s drive of every Virginian? Find a park.

Know before you go. Check the website of the park you intend to visit for any alerts. Be weather aware, check the park's weather forecast before heading out and prepare accordingly.

Explore your parks:

Use this day as an excuse to go on self-guided adventures, attend special educational events, go on guided hikes and more.

A great way to get to know a state park, is with self-guided activities. Ask a ranger at the park entrance or stop into the park’s visitor center for activity sheets. You can also download them here. Many of the activity sheets are scavenger hunts.

This year, Shenandoah River State Park is hosting a special scavenger hunt and the individual or team with the fastest time wins a $50 Virginia State Park’s gift certificate!

Learn while you explore:
The following special events happening on NPLD provide great learning opportunities about your natural world.

York River - Estuaries Day
Kiptopeke - Outdoor Exploration Day
Hungry Mother - Trailgate
Sailor’s Creek Battlefield - Spiders of the Piedmont
Pocahontas - Creek Crawl
Bear Creek Lake - Basic Archery
Occoneechee - Canoeing for Beginners - Morning and Afternoon
Occoneechee - Wildlife Program by the Alliance of Wild Animal Rehabilitators & Educators
James River - Bee Hotel Workshop

Explore the trail:
Park trail maps are another resource to explore the park. While you’re exploring trails, you may as well sign up for Trail Quest! Click here to learn about the program. To get the most out of a hike, sign up for a ranger guided one. See opportunities below.

Fairy Stone - Guided Hike at Mayo River Trails
Machicomoco - Morning Guided Hike and Afternoon Guided Hike
Pocahontas - Beaver Lake Guided Hike
Wilderness Road - Guided Hike
Sky Meadows - Guided Walk with Virginia Master Naturalists on Sensory Explorers' Trail
Shenandoah River - River Walk and Talk with Park Naturalist
Sweet Run - Bird Hike with Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

Beautify your parks:

Help our rangers cleanup the trails, beaches, and waterways.

Find a list of volunteer opportunities below that contribute to beautifying the park in one way or another. Join NPLD volunteers across the nation who are making sure we leave nature better than we found it!

High Bridge Trail - Bird Survey and Site Cleanup
Caledon - Cleanup
Twin Lakes - Cleanup
Douthat - Shoreline Clean up
Smith Mountain Lake - Beautifying Beechwood Trail
Southwest Virginia Museum - Grounds Cleanup
Leesylvania - Shoreline Cleanup
First Landing - Volunteer Opportunities
Chippokes - Beach Cleanup
False Cape - Beach Cleanup
Natural Tunnel - Cleanup
James River - River Cleanup
Shenandoah River - Picnic Area Trash Pick Up

Maintain your parks

Show Virginia State Parks some love on NPLD by offering your labor to help us keep your parks maintained. Your service helps us ensure everyone can easily enjoy the park, including the wildlife who call the parks home.

Occoneechee - Posseclay Rehabilitation Project
Belle Isle - Trail Maintenance
Natural Bridge - Spruce Up the Children's Discovery Area
Powhatan - Stewardship Project
Seven Bends - Beauty and Safety Enhancements
Staunton River - Spruce up the Pollinator Flower Beds
Natural Tunnel - Community Garden Maintenance

Remove invasive species from your parks

Invasive plants (non-native species that tend to spread out of control and harm the environment) are unfortunately widespread in Virginia, state parks are no exception. Take pride in your park by helping us remove invasive species so that native flora and fauna can thrive.

Sky Meadows - Service Project
Mason Neck - Invasive Species Removal
New River Trail - Invasive Species Removal at the New River Ivanhoe Birding Trail
Lake Anna - Stop the Stilt Grass
Claytor Lake - Invasive Plant Removal and Campfire and Owl Prowl
Sweet Run - Invasive Species Removal

Become an official volunteer for your parks

Virginia State Parks depend heavily on volunteers to operate – the 200k+ hours of service given in 2022 equate to the work of 101 full-time employees. Because we are so grateful to volunteer service, there are perks to look forward to!

Earn loyalty points
As your volunteer hours accrue, you will earn loyalty points that can be used to purchase an annual pass, or use them to redeem camping, cabin or yurt stays at any Virginia State Park.

Make friends
Volunteering can help you find your community of like-minded folks who appreciate the outdoors like you do. Park's have Friend Groups which are a huge part of each park's volunteer efforts!

Develop job skills
Parks provide training that help volunteers gain work experience and improve job skills. Volunteer hours can even count as job experience when applying for employment with Virginia State Parks or any state agency.

Find purpose
Becoming a volunteer for Virginia State Parks has helped many people find their purpose in natural and cultural resources.

Learn more and apply to join our volunteer team!

*Waived fee exceptions:

Free parking only applies to our standard parking fees.
In Natural Bridge State Park, access to Natural Bridge is not free since it is a per-person fee, not a parking fee, but parking at their trail heads is free.
Regular admission fee applies to visit the Southwest Virginia Museum ($2 - $5 per person, depending on age and group size).
Grayson Highlands State Park will have special event parking ($5 per car), due to their Fall Festival that weekend.

More public lands

Public lands offer opportunities for outdoor recreation, but they also provide benefits of conservation, floodplain management and improving clean air and water.

DCR also manages Virginia’s 66 natural area preserves, which include examples of some of the rarest natural communities and habitats for rare species in the state. Read and/or download a brochure about Virginia's Natural Area Preserves with public access.