The Official Units of the National Park System 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 territorie ...

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 propertie ...

. As of December 2020, there are official units of 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 ...

; however, this number can be 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 e ...

are 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 rooted in the language of a park's enabling legislation. Furthermore, the NPS contributes resources to "affiliated areas" which do not fall under its administration, and these do not count toward the official list number. An example is

Oklahoma City National Memorial The Oklahoma City National Memorial is a memorial in the United States that honors the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were affected by the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The memorial is located in downtown Oklahoma City on th ...

. These units are a subset of the areas in the United States National Park System, and nearly all 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 Park System units are found in all 50 states, in 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 in 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 ...

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 International ...

, 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.) Bold indicates national parks.

References

The National Parks: Index 2012-2016
- Official Index of the National Park Service
National Park Service Index:Addendum (2016-2017)
- Official Index updated June 2017

External links

National Park Service

Units by type

The 417 NPS units, by classification. List from NPS, January 2017

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of The United States National Park System Official Units 01 *Units *Units *Units *Units *Units *Units *Units *Units *Units *Units *Units *01

See also

References

External links