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A free pass to more than 30 California state historic parks will be offered through July 6 to honor Juneteenth and the 250th anniversary of the United States, state officials said.
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The free passes are good from Juneteenth on Friday, June 19, through the end of the year.
Juneteenth commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States, marking the date in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston to announce that slaves in Texas were free.
In a news release on the offer, Gov. Gavin Newsom accused President Donald Trump of “trying to whitewash the past” by ending free admission to national parks on Juneteenth.
“California doesn’t hide from hard truths and uncomfortable history – in fact, we embrace it and learn from it,” Newsom said in the release. “While Trump ignores and tries to rewrite the past, California is marking these celebrations of freedom by inviting everyone to learn our country’s history – our real history – for free in our state parks.”
How to get a free pass
You can download a pass for a family of four for free. Passes are good for unlimited visits to participating state parks through the end of 2026.
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The Historian Passport normally costs $50. Although the passport is good for the rest of 2026, the free offer is only available through July 6.
The offer gives more Californians “the opportunity to experience the unmatched natural and cultural resources of the nation’s largest and most diverse state park system,” the release said.
The offer is sponsored by donations from the California State Parks Foundation and the California State Railroad Museum Foundation.
“California’s state historic parks preserve some of our nation’s most powerful and meaningful stories, and I’m proud to live in a state that celebrates diversity to connect more people with those stories through this limited-time free pass,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero in the release.
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