We wrote a few months ago about the Parks Canada Discovery Pass being free for 2017, in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary. Entry into all of Canada’s National Parks, Historic Sites, Marine Conservation Area and Urban Parks are free for 2017, but you do need Parks Canada’s Discovery Pass. You can order the pass online, and Parks Canada will mail it to you. We ordered ours a few weeks ago and it just arrived today. Our family may or may not visit Canada in 2017, but it will certainly be nice to have the pass in the event we do.
(SEE ALSO: My craziest border crossings)
Where to go with our free Parks Canada Discovery Pass?
Ian already wrote about 7 great parks to visit with the Parks Canada free pass for 2017 – with Banff National Park on the top of the list
Banff is a little far from us over here in Ohio, but the Parks Canada Discovery Pass gives free entry into all of Canada’s Parks.
There are quite a few parks in southern Ontario in and around Toronto that look interesting, and a visit to Prince Edward Island and Canada’s Maritime provinces is already on my list of places I want to go. I’ve even marked it on my awesome world travel map with magnetic pins
If you’re planning a visit to any of Canada’s National Parks, keep in mind that with everyone getting into parks for free, popular parks at popular times may be busier than user, so plan ahead some.
I can only hope that the Parks Canada Discovery Pass will be better than the US’s “Every Kid in a Park” program from the past few years, where the actual ADMISSION was free, but many sites still jacked you for parking or other essential things (like getting actually IN to Mammoth Cave!)
Readers – do you have any suggestions on where to go with our Parks Canada Discovery Pass?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
We’ll be visiting Waterton National Park for Labor Day. Staying at the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel.
Our Parks Canada Discovery Pass arrived last week as well. Such a terrific promotion.
We are headed to the Pacific Rim National Park in Sept with our pass. Note on the website it does state there could be additional charges for parking and tours with your pass.