Here’s a sweet summer treat. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar recently announced that entrance fees at 147 national parks and monuments will be waived on the weekends of July 18-19 and Aug. 15-16.

That’s right – no fees to enjoy our national gems, from Rocky Mountain National Park to Mesa Verde National Park, from Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, from Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site to Dinosaur National Monument.

And that’s just a few of the ones in Colorado. Think Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Aztec Ruins National Monument in New Mexico, Canyonlands National Park and Zion National Park in Utah, Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park in Montana – there’s a whole country full of sites, including Puerto Rico.

Get a complete list of parks and monuments to visit for free on the National Park Service Web site, www .nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparksby state.htm, and get on the road to a magnificent free weekend.

Photo by Estes Park CVB