Next weekend you can explore Wind Cave or Jewel Cave, hike in the Badlands or stare up at the columns of Devils Tower — all for free. The National Park Service is offering a free weekend in its national parks, monuments and memorials in honor of the Martin Luther King Day holiday.

And the Black Hills have plenty of parks from which to choose: We have Jewel Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park, Badlands National Park, Devils Tower National Monument and the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and Mount Rushmore National Memorial. (Minuteman charges no fee. Mount Rushmore doesn’t either, but there is an annual  charge for parking, which I don’t think will be waived next weekend.)

The folks at Jewel Cave told me that their Scenic Tours (10 a.m. and 2 p.m.) and their Discovery Talks (9:05 a.m., 12:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.) are free during the three-day weekend.

Wind Cave National Park will offer free tours at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, January 15, 16, and 17. Visitors will walk along the Garden of Eden Tour Route and view boxwork formations for which the cave is famous.

It’s one of a handful of opportunities each year for the public to explore for free more than 100 national parks that normally charge entrance fees. The others, by the way, are:

• April 21 to 29 (National Park Week).
• June 9 (Get Outdoors Day)
• September 29 (National Public Lands Day)
• November 10 to 12 (Veterans Day weekend).

“Many people have made resolutions to spend more quality time with loved ones and to get outdoors and unplug in 2011,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in a press release.  ”There’s no better place than a national park to help keep those resolutions. Parks offer superb recreational opportunities, making them perfect places to enjoy our beautiful land, history and culture, and nurture a healthy lifestyle.”