Escambia County Celebrates National Park Week, April 20-28

To celebrate National Park Week, Gulf Islands National Seashore parks on Pensacola Beach - among the 400 other National Parks in the United States - will welcome visitors free of charge through Sunday.

National parks include seashores, battlefields, historic homes, archeological sites and spectacular natural areas and there is at least one in each state.

Gulf Island National Seashore Facts:

• More than 5 million people visit Gulf Islands National Seashore annually, exceeding visitors for Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.

• Stretching more than 160 miles, Gulf Islands National Seashore can be visited from Cat Island, Mississippi, eastward to Santa Rosa Island in Escambia County and Okaloosa, Florida.

• 80 percent of the Seashore is submerged lands, allowing visitors to explore the sea grass beds and other underwater wonders of the park by swimming and snorkeling.

For more information, visit myescambia.com and follow @MyEscambia on Twitter.