Lake Mead, other national parks waiving entrance fees Saturday

The weather is warming up, and the National Park Service wants you to visit its park sites Saturday. For free.

The agency is celebrating National Park Week by waiving fees at all National Park Service sites across the country, including parks in and near Southern Nevada.

The no-fee parks include Lake Mead National Recreation Area, California’s Death Valley, Arizona’s Grand Canyon and Utah’s Zion and Bryce national parks.

Nevada’s only national park, Great Basin in Ely, is also free Saturday.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, on the far west side of the Las Vegas Valley, is not taking part in the no-fee event. The area is operated by the Bureau of Land Management.

Saturday is the second of four free days the National Park Service will offer in 2018. The first was on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January. The other days are Sept. 22 for National Public Lands Day and Nov. 11 for Veterans Day.

Last year, the National Park Service offered 10 fee-free days. For more information about how the agency is celebrating National Park Week, go to nps.gov.

The agency recently announced plans to raise entrance fees at select high-traffic sites, although less than originally planned.

Starting June 1, all 117 fee-collecting parks will charge an extra $5 for admission, including Lake Mead, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Zion and other park sites in the Las Vegas vicinity.