Beyond the national parks
The famous national parks are a small part of America's public lands. Six federal agencies run thousands of places to visit, from Civil War battlefields and presidential homes to national forests and wildlife refuges. For retirees, many of them are close to home, quieter than the big parks, and covered by one pass.
One pass, many agencies
The America the Beautiful Senior Pass is honored by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish & Wildlife Service, the Army Corps of Engineers and, at a few sites, the Bureau of Reclamation. It pays the entrance or day-use fee where one is charged. Many of these places charge no fee at all, so check each site's own page. The pass guide explains what it does and does not cover.
National Park Service sites
The National Park Service looks after 429 sites in our list, in more than 20 kinds. The National Park Service says fewer than a quarter of its sites charge an entrance fee. Browse by kind, or search all of them by state.
- National Monuments (87)
- National Historic Sites (76)
- National Historical Parks (64)
- National Parks (62)
- National Memorials (31)
- National Recreation Areas (18)
- National Preserves (12)
- National Battlefields (11)
- Other Designations (11)
- National Wild and Scenic Rivers (10)
- National Seashores (10)
- National Military Parks (9)
- National Trails System (4)
- National Scenic Trails (4)
- National Rivers (4)
- National Parkways (4)
- National Battlefield Parks (4)
- National Lakeshores (3)
- National Reserves (2)
- Affiliated Areas (1)
- National Battlefield Sites (1)
- International Historic Sites (1)
The counts are calculated from the National Park Service's own data, retrieved November 7, 2026. Historic sites, historical parks, battlefields and memorials make up most of the list, so they are a good place to start if you enjoy history. Our national park guides cover the 61 parks that many retirees visit first.
National forests and grasslands
The Forest Service manages about 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands, roughly 193 million acres, in nearly every state. Many have scenic drives, trails, lakes and picnic areas, and the pass covers standard day-use fees at some of them. Camping and similar services are usually separate.
- Find a national forest or grassland (Forest Service)
- What passes cover in national forests (Forest Service)
The Forest Service's own pages sometimes give slightly different forest counts, and it does not publish a current downloadable list, so we link to its finder instead of copying a list that could be out of date.
National wildlife refuges
The Fish & Wildlife Service manages more than 570 national wildlife refuges, with at least one in every state. They are good for birdwatching, wildlife photography and easy walks. Many refuges charge no fee; where one does, the pass covers the entrance fee.
- Find a refuge by state, ZIP or name (Fish & Wildlife Service)
Public lands, lakes and other recreation areas
- Bureau of Land Management public lands and waters, where the pass covers day-use fees at fee sites. See the BLM passes page.
- Bureau of Reclamation: only a few recreation areas take the pass, so check this page first.
- Search all federal recreation sites on Recreation.gov, including Army Corps of Engineers lakes and campgrounds.
Before you go
- Check each site's official page for hours, fees, closures and accessibility. Conditions change.
- The pass covers entrance and standard day-use fees only. Camping, tours, special permits and services run by private concessioners are usually separate; seniors may get a discount on some camping fees.
- State parks do not honor the federal pass. Many have their own senior discounts.
- Planning a move? Compare all 50 states. Each state page shows how many National Park Service sites it has.