WASHINGTON, June 25 (DC Times Online) — Visitors will be able to step into the Lincoln Memorial’s long-hidden undercroft in Washington, D.C., when the National Park Service opens the space to the public on June 25, 2026.
The park service says the underground area is a 15,000-square-foot exhibit space beneath the memorial, which has been closed to the public since the monument opened in 1922. The new installation includes interactive exhibits and multimedia presentations focused on the memorial’s construction and its place in American history and civil rights.
Admission is free, but entry is timed. Advance reservations are available through Recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777, and a $1 service fee applies to advance bookings, according to the National Park Service.
For visitors who do not reserve ahead, same-day tickets will be distributed beginning at 8:45 a.m. at the Korean War Veterans Memorial kiosk on Daniel Chester French Drive, just south of the Lincoln Memorial.
The National Park Service says the project is being completed in partnership with the National Park Foundation. The opening adds a new stop for travelers on the National Mall, where one of the capital’s most visited monuments will now include access to a space that has remained underground for more than a century.
