As of December 2020, there are now 63 Protected National Parks in the U.S.
The Worldwide National Park movement started to evolve when an area of Yellowstone National Park was labeled as a public park and placed under the control of the Secretary of the Interior. After that, over the next 44 years the Department of Interior, the War Department and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture all named other exceptional areas as Monuments or Historical Sites. Until…
…that is until August 25, 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson created the National Park Service as a way to bring everything together to preserve, regulate and celebrate these steller National Parks, Monuments, and Reservations.
There are now over 400 sites in the US that the National Park Service manages. The list includes National Preserves, Historic Sites, Memorial Parkways, National Lakeshores, Scenic Trails, Monuments, Recreation Areas, Seashores, National Memorial Sites and of course continue below the map to see 63 National Parks by state…
Here is your collection of the 63 US National Parks by state listing:
The official date they became a National Park
The order they became a National Park
Size of the park
The recorded number of visitors in 2019
National Park Table of Contents
National Parks in Alaska
#14 Denali National Park
*14th US National Park on February 26, 1917
*Size: 4,740,911 acres
*601,152 visitors in 2019
#42 Gates of the Arctic National Park
*42nd US National Park on December 2, 1980
*Size: 8,472,506 acres
*10,518 visitors in 2019
#43 Glacier Bay National Park
*43rd US National Park on December 2, 1980
*Size: 3,223,384 acres
*672,087 visitors in 2019
#44 Katmai National Park
*44th US National Park on December 2, 1980
*Size: 3,674,529 acres
*84,167 visitors in 2019
#45 Kenai Fjords National Park
*45th US National Park on December 2, 1980
*Size: 669,984 acres
*356,601 visitors in 2019
#46 Kobuk Valley National Park
*46th US National Park on December 2, 1980
*Size: 1,750,716 acres
*15,766 visitors in 2019
#47 Lake Clark National Park
*47th US National Park on December 2, 1980
*Size: 4,030,015 acres
*17,157 visitors in 2019
#48 Wrangell-St. Ellis National Park
*48th US National Park on December 2, 1980
*Size: 3,368,258 acres
*74,518 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Arizona
#15 Grand Canyon National Park
*15th US National Park on February 26, 1919
*Size: 1,217,262 acres
*5,974,411 visitors in 2019
#30 Petrified Forest National Park
*30th US National Park on December 9, 1962
*Size: 218,533 acres
*653,588 visitors in 2019
#52 Saguaro National Park
*52nd US National Park on October 14, 1994
*Size: 91,716 acres
*1,020,226 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Arkansas
#17 Hot Springs National Park
*17th US National Park on March 4, 1921
*Size: 5,549 acres
*1,467,153 visitors in 2019
National Parks in California
#40 Channel Islands National Park
*40th US National Park on March 5, 1980
*Size: 249,561 acres
*409,630 visitors in 2019
#53 Death Valley National Park
*53rd US National Park on October 31, 1994
*Size: 3,373,063 acres
*1,740,945 visitors in 2019
#54 Joshua Tree National Park
*54th US National Park on October 31, 1994
*Size: 790,636 acres
*2,988547 visitors in 2019
#3 Kings Canyon National Park
*3rd US National Park on October 1, 1890
*Size: 461,901 acres
*632,110 visitors in 2019
#13 Lassen Volcanic National Park
*13th US National Park on August 9, 1916
*Size: 106,452 acres
*517,039 visitors in 2019
#59 Pinnacles National Park
*59th US National Park on January 10, 2013
*Size: 26,606 acres
*177,224 visitors in 2019
#33 Redwood National Park
*33rd US National Park on October 2, 1968
*Size: 71,715 acres of federal land & 60,268 acres of State land
*504,722 visitors in 2019
#2 Sequoia National Park
*2nd US National Park on September 25, 1890
*Size: 404,064 acres
*1,246,053 visitors in 2019
#4 Yosemite National Park
*4th US National Park on October 1, 1890
*Size: 748,436 acres
*4,422,861 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Colorado
#55 Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
*55th US National Park on October 21, 1999
*Size: 30,750 acres
*432,818 visitors in 2019
#58 Great Sand Dunes National Park
*58th US National Park on September 24, 2004
*Size: 107,342 acres
*527,546 visitors in 2019
#8 Mesa Verde National Park
*8th US National Park on June 29, 1906
*Size: 52,485 acres
*556,203 visitors in 2019
#10 Rocky Mountain National Park
*10th US National Park on January 26, 1915
*Size: 265,461 acres
*4,670,053 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Florida
#41 Biscayne National Park
*41st US National Park on June 28, 1980
*Size: 172,971 acres
*708,522 visitors in 2019
#51 Dry Tortugas National Park
*51st US National Park on October 26, 1992
*Size: 64,701 acres
*79,200 visitors in 2019
#21 Everglades National Park
*21st US National Park on May 30, 1934
*Size:1,508,976 acres
*1,118,300 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Hawaii
#12 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
*12th US National Park on August 1, 1916
*Size: 323,431 acres
*1,368,376 visitors in 2019
#29 Haleakala National Park
*29th US National Park on July 1, 1961
*Size: 33,265 acres
*994,394 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Indiana
#61 Indiana Dunes National Park
*61st US National Park on February 15, 2019
*Size: 15,067 acres
*2,134,285 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Kentucky
#26 Mammoth Cave National Park
*26th US National Park on July 1, 1941
*Size:52,830 acres
*551,590 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Maine
#11 Arcadia National Park
*11th US National Park on July 8, 1916
*Size: 49,075
*3,437,286 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Michigan
#25 Isle Royale National Park
*25th US National Park on April 3, 1940
*Size: 571,790 acres
*26,410 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Minnesota
#37 Voyageurs National Park
*37th US National Park on April 8, 1975
*Size: 218,200 acres
*232,974 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Missouri
#60 Gateway Arch National Park
*60th US National Park on February 22, 2018
*Size: 91 acres
*2,055,309 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Montana
#9 Glacier National Park
*9th US National Park on May 11, 1910
*Size: 2,965,309
*3,049,839 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Nevada
#49 Great Basin National Park
*49th US National Park on October 27, 1986
*Size: 77,180 acres
*131,802 visitors in 2019
National Parks in New Mexico
#20 Carlsbad Caverns National Park
*20th US National Park on May 14, 1930
*Size: 46,766 acres
*440,691 visitors in 2019
#62 White Sands National Park
*62nd US National Park on December 18, 2019
*Size: 143,733 acres
*608,785 visitors in 2019
National Parks in North Carolina
#22 Great Smoky MountainsNational Park
*22nd US National Park on June 15, 1934
*Size: 522,419 acres
*12,547,743 visitors in 2019
National Parks in North Dakota
#39 Theodore Roosevelt National Park
*39th US National Park on November 10, 1978
*Size: 70,446 acres
*691,658 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Ohio
#56 Cuyahoga Valley National Park
*56th US National Park on October 11, 2000
*Size: 32,572 acres
*2,237,997 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Oregon
#6 Crater Lake National Park
*6th US National Park on May 22, 1902
*Size: 183,224 acres
*704,512 visitors in 2019
National Parks in South Carolina
#57 Congaree National Park
*57th US National Park on November 10, 2003
*Size: 26,276 acres
*159,445 visitors in 2019
National Parks in South Dakota
#38 Badlands National Park
*38th US National Park on November 10, 1978
*Size: 242,756 acres
*970,998 visitors in 2019
#7 Wind Cave National Park
*7th US National Park on January 9, 1903
*Size: 33,847 acres
*615,350 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Tennessee
#22 Great Smoky Mountains National Park
*22nd US National Park on June 15, 1934
*Size: 522,419 acres
*12,547,743 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Texas
#27 Big Bend National Park
*27th US National Park on June 12, 1944
*Size: 801,163 acres
*463,832 visitors in 2019
#36 Guadalupe Mountains National Park
*36th US National Park on September 30, 1972
*Size: 86,367 acres
*188,833 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Utah
#34 Arches National Park
*34th US National Park on November 12, 1971
*Size: 76,679 acres
*1,659,702 visitors in 2019
#18 Bryce Canyon National Park
*18th US National Park on February 25, 1928
*Size: 35,835 acres
*2,594,904 visitors in 2019
#31 Canyonlands National Park
*31st US National Park on September 12, 1964
*Size: 337,598 acres
*733,996 visitors in 2019
#35 Capitol Reef National Park
*35th US National Park on December 18, 1971
*Size: 241,904 acres
*1,226,519 visitors in 2019
#16 Zion National Park
*16th US National Park on November 19, 1919
*Size: 146,597 acres
*4,488,268 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Virginia
#23 Shenandoah National Park
*23rd US National Park on December 26, 1935
*Size: 199,173 acres
*1,425,507 visitors in 2019
National Parks in Washington
#5 Mount Rainier National Park
*5th US National Park on March 2, 1899
*Size: 236,381 acres
*1,501,621 visitors in 2019
#32 North Cascades National Park
*32nd US National Park on October 2, 1968
*Size: 504,654 acres
*38,208 visitors in 2019
#24 Olympic National Park
*24th US National Park on June 29, 1938
*Size: 922,650 acres
*3,245,806 visitors in 2019
National Parks in West Virginia
#63 New River Gorge National Park
*63rd US National Park on December 27, 2020
*Size: 7021 acres
* visitors in 2019 [Not a National Park in 2019]
National Parks in Wyoming
#19 Grand Teton National Park
*19th US National Park on February 26, 1929
*Size: 310,000 acres
*3,405,614 visitors in 2019
#1 Yellowstone National Park
*1st US National Park on March 1, 1872
*Size: 2,219,791 acres
*4,020,288 visitors in 2019
National Parks in US Territories
#50 American Samoa National Park
*50th US National Park on October 31, 1988
*Size: 13,500 acres
*60,006 visitors in 2019
#28 Virgin Islands National Park
*28th US National Park on August 2, 1956
*Size: 14,737 acres
*133,398 visitors in 2019
As the US continues to add to the National Park by State List, know that there are also over 100 other nations that have stepped up to join the US in preserving 1200 National Parks.
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