Coming up this weekend you have a chance to enjoy the great outdoors plus explore some stellar museums, free of charge! Saturday September 26th, 2015 is Public Lands Day as well as the 11th Annual Museum Day. This means you can enjoy FREE admission to more than 100 national parks that normally charge an admission fee, as well as free entrance (with downloadable ticket) to various museums that normally charge admission (limit one ticket per household; ticket provides free admission to two people). Please note you need to sign up for a free Smithsonian account, in order to request a ticket for free admission.
Washington DC Museums that are participating in the 2015 National Museum Day:
- DAR Museum *free admission everyday
- Dumbarton House
- Dumbarton Oaks Gardens
- Dumbarton Oaks Museum *free admission everyday
- Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery *free admission everyday
- Heurich House Museum *free admission everyday
- Koshland Science Museum
- National Building Museum
- National Museum of Women in the Arts
- Newseum
- The Kreeger Museum
Participating Museums in Virginia include the following Northern VA museums:
- Alexandria Archaeology Museum (Alexandria, VA) *free admission everyday
- Clermont Farm (Berryville, VA) *free admission everyday
- Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail (Warrantor, VA)
- Gadsby’s Tavern Museum (Alexandria, VA)
- Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop (Fredericksburg, VA)
- The James Monroe Museum (Fredericksburg, VA)
- Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden (Alexandria, VA)
- The Marshall House (Leesburg, VA)
- Mary Washington House (Fredericksburg, VA)
- Morven Park (Leesburg, VA)
- Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (Winchester, VA)
- National Firearms Museum (Fairfax, VA) * free admission everyday
- National Inventors Hall of Fame (Alexandria, VA) *free admission everyday
- National Museum of the Marine Corps (Triangle, VA) *free admission everyday
- Newtown History Center of the Stone House Foundation (Stephens City, VA)
- Rising Sun Tavern (Fredericksburg, VA)
- Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum (Winchester, VA)
- Sully Historic Site (Chantilly, VA)
You can find a full list of participating Virginia museums here
Participating Museums in Maryland are listed here, as well as participating museums in Washington, DC here (we are blessed to have so many museums in DC that offer free admission every day).
For Public Lands Day, National Parks the normally charge an entrance fee, will be free today!
Participating National Parks in Virginia:
- Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
- Assateague Island National Seashore
- Colonial National Historical Park
- George Washington Memorial Parkway’s Great Falls Park
- Manassas National Battlefield Park
- Petersburg National Battlefield
- Prince William Forest Park
- Shenandoah National Park
Participating National Parks in Maryland:
- Antietam National Battlefield
- Assateague Island National Seashore
- Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
- Fort McHenry NM and Historic Shrine National Monument
- Fort Washington Park
- Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Participating National Parks and Museums in West Virginia:
For more information or to look up parks participating in other states, click here, and be sure to check out my list of 2015 free parks admission dates. Have a happy National Museum Day and Public Lands Day!