It's time for another free weekend in Yellowstone National Park, as entrance fees to America's oldest National Park will be waived on July 18-19, the second time this summer the Park Service has taken this step to spur interest in national treasures.

The first free weekend was held June 20-21 and proved to be quite the bonanza in terms of helping Yellowstone National Park set an attendance record for the month of June. We were there that weekend; it was an interesting crowd, as it seemed like it was mostly locals taking advantage of the free admission. There were hotel rooms available up to a week before the free weekend. Most of the traffic, it seemed to us, was centered around Old Faithful; you could not get near the venerable geyser beginning at noon and extending through suppertime. We're guessing Park Service officials would be pretty happy if they received the same level of interest this weekend.

We're also waiting to hear whether Park concessionaires are offering any low-priced items for the free weekend, as was the case in June. At that time the specials were $5 and included T-shirts, hats, water bottles and other smaller items

And remember: the free admission extends to all American National Parks, which means you can throw a detour to Grand Teton National Park into the mix.

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