The
National Park System
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
is the collection of physical properties owned or administered by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
. The collection includes all
national parks and most
national monuments, as well as several other types of
protected areas of the United States
The protected areas of the United States are managed by an array of different federal, state, tribal and local level authorities and receive widely varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness, while others are operated wi ...
.
As of July 2021, there are
units
Unit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''
* Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation
Music
* Unit (album), ...
of the National Park System.
However, this number is somewhat misleading. For example,
Denali National Park and Preserve
Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve ...
is counted as two units, since the same name applies to a national park and an adjacent national preserve. Yet
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (french: Parc historique national et réserve Jean Lafitte) protects the natural and cultural resources of Louisiana's Mississippi River Delta region. It is named after French pirate Jean Lafitt ...
is counted as one unit, despite its double designation. Counting methodology is typically based on the language of a park's authorizing legislation.
Although the designations generally reflect sites' features, all units of the system are considered administratively equal and with few exceptions the designations themselves do not define their level of protection. Each site has a management plan consistent with its ecological, historic, and recreational resources and its enabling legislation.
In addition to areas of the National Park System, the National Park Service also provides technical and financial assistance to several affiliated areas authorized by Congress. Affiliated areas are marked on the lists below.
National Park System units are found in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and the
U.S. territories
Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...
of
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
,
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...
, the
U.S. Virgin Islands, and
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
. (The territory of the
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
has an affiliated area but not an official NPS unit.)
Nearly all units managed by the National Park Service participate in the
National Park Passport Stamps
Passport to Your National Parks is a program through which ink stamps can be acquired at no cost at park visitor centers and ranger stations at nearly all of the units of the United States National Park System and most of the National Park Servi ...
program.
National parks
There are 63 officially designated national parks in the United States and its dependent areas, as of 2021.
The national parks are considered the "crown jewels" of the system and are typically larger than other areas, including a variety of significant ecological and geological resources.
Former national parks
National monuments
There are 129
national monuments, 85 of which are administered by the NPS and are listed below. Of these, 84 (all except Grand Canyon-Parashant) are
NPS official units.
The remaining 44 monuments are administered by five other federal agencies. Two, Grand Canyon–Parashant and Craters of the Moon National Monuments, are jointly administered by the NPS and the
Bureau of Land Management, and Tule Lake National Monument is joint with the
Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
. National monuments are typically smaller and protect just one or few major resources. They include both natural and historical sites and can be established by the president under the
Antiquities Act
The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ), is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by presidential procla ...
.
Former national monuments
National preserves
There are 21 national preserves in the United States, 19 of which are counted by the National Park System as
official units. Ten are stand-alone official units, while eleven others are designated areas where hunting or grazing is permitted as part of a larger "national park and preserve" or "national monument and preserve". Nine of those are counted as separate units, while
Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve and
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is a unit of the United States National Park Service (NPS) designed to protect and maintain the New River Gorge in southern West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains. Established in 1978 as a nat ...
are single units (there is no functional difference).
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (french: Parc historique national et réserve Jean Lafitte) protects the natural and cultural resources of Louisiana's Mississippi River Delta region. It is named after French pirate Jean Lafitt ...
is not officially a national preserve but has similar management policies, while
Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve is unrelated.
National historical parks
There are 62 national historical parks.
;Authorized national historical parks
National historic sites
There are 83 national historic sites, of which 73 are NPS units, 9 are affiliated areas, and one,
Grey Towers National Historic Site
Grey Towers National Historic Site, also known as Gifford Pinchot House or The Pinchot Institute, is located just off US 6 west of Milford, Pennsylvania, in Dingman Township. It is the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, first director of the Un ...
, is managed by the
U.S. Forest Service (not listed here).
Former national historic sites
Authorized national historic sites
International historic site
National battlefield parks
National military parks
Former national military parks
National battlefields
National battlefield site
Former national battlefield sites
National memorials
There are 31 national memorials that are NPS units and five affiliated national memorials.
Former national memorials
Authorized national memorials
National recreation areas
There are 18 national recreation areas administered by the National Park Service.
Another 22 national recreation areas are administered by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
Former or transferred national recreation areas
National seashores
There are 10 national seashores.
National lakeshores
There are three national lakeshores, located in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Former national lakeshores
National rivers and national wild and scenic rivers
There are four national rivers (marked with an asterisk) and ten
national wild and scenic river
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...
s administered as distinct units of the National Park System.
There are many more national wild and scenic rivers that run through other units.
Former national rivers
National reserves
National reserves are partnerships between federal, state, and local authorities. Within the boundaries of the three national reserves are combinations of federal land (Park Service or National Wildlife Refuges), state parks and forests, local public lands, and private properties. Two national reserves are currently managed as official units.
National parkways
Ten roadways and surrounding scenic areas are managed by the NPS as parkways, four of which as official units and five as part of other units.
National historic and scenic trails
These National Park Service trails are part of the larger National Trails System. Only three of the trails are considered official units of the park system.
National cemeteries
Most
national cemeteries are administered by the
Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
, although a few are managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Army. None of the cemeteries are considered official units of the system; they are all affiliated with other parks.
Transferred national cemeteries
National heritage areas
The National Park Service provides limited assistance to national heritage areas, but does not administer them.
Other NPS protected areas and administrative groups
There are 11 NPS units of other designations, as well as other affiliated areas. The National Mall and National Capital Parks have many sites, some of which are also units of other designations.
In addition, there are sites where the NPS is authorized to provide financial and technical assistance to local authorities for interpretive or educational purposes, but do not have the right to acquire land or have a say in land use or zoning. These include the 55
National Heritage Area
In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some ...
s, as well as National Commemorative Sites such as
Quindaro Townsite or the
Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site. There are also various administrative groups of listed parks, such as Manhattan Sites, National Parks of New York Harbor, and Western Arctic National Parklands. The NPS also owns
conservation easement
In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization (often called a "land trust") or gover ...
s (but not the land itself) for part of the area called the
Green Springs National Historic Landmark District.
Former other areas
In the 1930s and 1940s, the NPS developed dozens of
recreational demonstration areas, most of which eventually became national or state parks.
See also
*
List of the United States National Park System official units (the )
*
List of fee areas in the United States National Park System
Fee areas of the National Park System comprise a minority of the List of areas in the United States National Park System, areas of the United States National Park System administered by the National Park Service. A majority of sites are fee-free a ...
*
List of all national parks of the world
*
List of U.S. state parks
*
National Park Passport Stamps
Passport to Your National Parks is a program through which ink stamps can be acquired at no cost at park visitor centers and ranger stations at nearly all of the units of the United States National Park System and most of the National Park Servi ...
*
List of National Natural Landmarks
The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...
*
List of tourist attractions worldwide
The following lists of tourist attractions include tourist attractions in various countries.
By type
* List of airshows
* List of amusement parks
* List of aquaria
* List of beaches
* List of botanical gardens
* List of buildings
* List ...
References
* Bureau Historian (2006)
"Former National Park System Units: An Analysis".
* National Park Service
* National Park Service Office of Public Affairs (2009)
"UNITS & RELATED AREAS & RELATED AREAS IN THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM" Last updated January 13, 2017. (Lists 317 NPS units and related areas by classification).
*
External links
Alphabetical list of places at the National Park Service website
National Park ServiceUnits by type
National Park FoundationParks by Date of Establishment*
ttp://www.parkstamps.org/The
National Park Travelers Club
The National Park Travelers Club (or NPTC) is a non-profit 501(c)7 social club organization. Its mission is to provide networking and recognition opportunities for visitors to America's National Park System. This Club acts to support and expand a ...
- an organization of individuals attempting to visit all units of the NPS
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