Pass the word to friends and family members: National Park Week is coming up. And that means free entry to all of our national parks.

While the majority of national parks are free to visitors 365 days a year, more than 100 parks with entry fees will be waiving them April 22 through April 26.

This looks like a beautiful weekend for a drive to the coast -- but maybe the wrong time to try the Outer Banks. NCDOT said that ocean overwash Saturday morning had closed NC 12, the Outer Banks highway, in several spots up and down the shoreline. (Saturday 1pm update: NCDOT says NC 12 has reopened, but more overwash and repeated closings are possible at high tide Saturday evening and over the next few days.)

The closings early Saturday were located at :

* at Kitty Hawk,

* just south of the tempory steel bridge on Pea Island, built across the new inlet created by Hurricane Irene in 2011,

* at the S-turns at Mirlo Beach, on the north end of Rodanthe, also the site of big breaches by Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012, and

* in Buxton. And there's more overwash in Hatteras today, so there could be additional road closures later.

Looks like a good place to keep up with this is NCDOT's Facebook page, which has several updates with photos taken Saturday. Also check out the NCDOT Highway 12 Twitter feed.

All 397 national parks across the country will offer free admission from Jan. 14-16 to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.