Free admission to national parks and forests on Veterans Day

National parks and forests that charge fees will be free Wednesday in honor of Veterans Day. That means visitors skip the $25 fee at Yosemite and the $20 fee at Death Valley national parks as well as the $5 Adventure Pass at local forests.

Active military personnel and veterans get free entry at selected California State Parks on Wednesday (military ID required).

The deal includes state parks covered by the California Explorer pass, eight Vehicular Recreation Areas and the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.

Veterans Day is a busy one, heavy with reflection, at the many military and war memorials in Washington, D.C. The best-known event happens at 11 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac in Virginia. Every year, a wreath is laid at the Tomb of the Unknowns to honor all who have died in service to their country.

The event is open to the public on a first-come basis. Shuttles from the visitor center to the ceremony at the Memorial Amphitheater begin at 8 a.m.

There’s also a 3 p.m. wreath-laying ceremony at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at the entrance to Arlington Cemetery. It honors the 2.5 million women who are serving or have served in the U.S. military since the Revolutionary War.

You also can visit several memorials on the National Mall: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the World War II Memorial dedicated in 2004, the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the D.C. War Memorial that lists the names of 499 district residents who died in World War I.

Off the mall, the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial east of the Capitol is the newest memorial in Washington. It was dedicated last year and includes glass panels with quotes and stories, a reflecting pool, a ceremonial flame, white granite walls, sculptures and a memorial grove of ginkgo and cypress trees.

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