Final thoughts on the best national parks in the usa. There are 388 national parks in the united states of america.
To see them all you d need to visit 29 states and.
How many national parks in usa. You now have an idea of just how massive and diverse the usa national park scene really is. The united states has 62 protected areas known as national parks that are operated by the national park service an agency of the department of the interior national parks must be established by an act of the united states congress a bill creating the first national park yellowstone was signed into law by president ulysses s. In the years since america has amassed a total of 62 national parks from the northern reaches of alaska to the waters of the florida keys.
Some of the most notable and unique national parks in the us grand canyon national park. Of these 62 have a national park designation. A acadia american samoa arches b badlands big bend biscayne black canyon of the gunnison bryce canyon.
Yellowstone was the first national park in the u s. And is also thought to be the first national park in the world. List of national parks in the united states 2020.
They span across more than 84 million acres in each state and extend into the territories including parks in puerto rico the virgin islands american samoa and guam. The newest national park in the united states is white sands national park in new mexico. Obviously the more time you have to explore the top american national parks the.
The national park system encompasses 419 national park sites in the united states. Grand canyon national park is located in arizona state and it occupies a total area of 1 217 403 acres. The park s outstanding landform is the grand canyon gorge formed by geological and erosion processes over time.
The grand canyon is 1 600 meters. Well there you have it friends you have made it through my whirlwind tour of the 25 best national parks in the usa. Territories as of august 2019.
This list includes all units managed by the national park system including national parks national monuments national historic sites national battlefields national preserves and other related sites. The national park system of the united states is the collection of physical properties owned or administered by the national park service the collection includes all national parks and most national monuments as well as several other types of protected areas of the united states. Grant in 1872 followed by mackinac national park in 1875.
As of january 2020 there are 419 units of the national park system. The united states national parks were founded in 1872 with the establishment of yellowstone national park. There are currently 419 official national park service units in the united states the district of columbia and u s.
That may be correct it is close the latest is 391 if you include all national park service properties but you need to differentiate between national parks of which there are 58 national monuments national historic sites etc.
