Every country has areas of natural beauty. These areas almost always contain valuable and interesting plants and animals that often cannot be found anywhere else on Earth. Therefore, these areas must be protected if they are to continue to add to society’s enjoyment and scientific knowledge.
For this purpose most countries throughout the world have established national parks and other protected areas. Included in these are many nature reserves that have been set aside to conserve particular kinds of plants or animals. A number of countries have also set aside areas or sites of great historical significance.
In the United States, national parks are dedicated to recreational activity. In England they may protect cultural as well as natural landscapes, thus preserving traditional forms of land use. Elsewhere, such as in Peru, some national parks protect indigenous peoples. This protection is also usually extended to include their hunting and gathering grounds as well.
In 1872 the United States government established Yellowstone National Park. It was the first national park in the world. This set the example that has led other countries to develop parks and reserves.
Canada was another pioneer in creating national parks. In 1885 it set aside an area of 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) to preserve the hot mineral springs at Banff, Alberta, on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Two years later the area was made a national park. Now known as Banff National Park, it covers more than 2,500 square miles (6,400 square kilometers). In addition, it embraces several large ice fields and glacial lakes.
The London Convention Relative to the Preservation of Flora and Fauna in Their Natural State was signed in 1933. The treaty stimulated conservation programs in many parts of Africa and other continents as well. Updated and revised in both 1968 and 2003, the convention has broadened its focus to include both renewable and nonrenewable resources and to concentrate on the sustainability of natural resources.
The Convention on Nature Protection and Wild Life Preservation in the Western Hemisphere came into force in 1942. The United States and several Latin American countries signed the treaty. It provides for the creation of national parks, wilderness reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries in the countries that signed the treaty. The treaty protects migratory birds and vanishing species of wildlife. It encourages cooperation in scientific field studies among researchers. It also controls the illegal import and export of various plants and animals, both of which are often in danger of becoming extinct.
The International Union for the Protection of Nature (now International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources; IUCN) was established in 1948 in Fontainebleau, France. Its main purpose is to promote planned use and active conservation in areas where there are vital or rare plants and wildlife and scenic, scientific, or cultural features.
In 1958 the IUCN recommended that the United Nations compile a world list of national parks and reserves. The same year the IUCN established the International Commission on National Parks. In 1962 the first World Conference on National Parks was held in Seattle, Washington, attended by delegates from some 70 countries. A major concern was the increasing pace at which people were destroying rare animal species.
In 1969 the 10th General Assembly of the IUCN met in New Delhi, India, to consider the importance that the United Nations was giving to the national park concept. The assembly defined a national park as follows: “A national park is a relatively large area (1) where one or several ecosystems are not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geomorphological sites and habitats are of special scientific, educative and recreative interest or which contains a natural landscape of great beauty; and (2) where the highest competent authority of the country has taken steps to prevent or to eliminate as soon as possible exploitation or occupation in the whole area and to enforce effectively the respect of ecological, geomorphological or aesthetic features which have led to its establishment; and (3) where visitors are allowed to enter, under special conditions, for inspirational, educative, cultural and recreative purposes.”
In 1972 more than 90 countries attended the second World Conference on National Parks. It was held at Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks as part of the Yellowstone centennial celebration. Since then, several such world conferences have been held. .
Member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) unanimously adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972. Known as the World Heritage Convention, the agreement provides technical and financial assistance to member states to further their attempts to promote conservation. More than 190 countries now adhere to the convention, and more than 1,070 World Heritage sites have been named. They are classified as either cultural, natural, or mixed, with the majority designated as cultural. In Canada, World Heritage sites include Dinosaur Provincial Park, the Historic District of Old Quebec, and Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. The sites in the United States include Independence Hall, Mesa Verde National Park, and Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Other World Heritage sites include the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Aksum in Ethiopia, León Cathedral in Nicaragua, Auschwitz in Poland, and Samarkand in Uzbekistan.
In Africa, especially, poaching is a major danger to wildlife conservation. Poachers ignore laws protecting animals, systematically butchering them for profit. In order to combat poaching, African governments have created huge national parks that serve as wildlife sanctuaries. Some cover thousands of square miles.
Among the largest parks on the African continent are Salonga, Upemba, Maiko, and Virunga, all of which are located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in central Africa. Kafue National Park in Zambia is noted for its many hippopotamuses and black rhinoceroses. Other large African national parks are Boucle de Baoulé in the West African country of Mali and Manovo-Gounda St. Floris in the Central African Republic.
In East Africa, the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is noted for its numerous wildebeests (gnu), zebras, and gazelles. The largest national park in Kenya is Tsavo (split into Tsavo East and Tsavo West), which contains typical animals of the country. In central Kenya is Aberdare National Park, which contains the widely known Treetops Hotel. The greater part of Murchison Falls (Kabalega) National Park in Uganda is a savanna, well wooded in some areas, with papyrus beds along the Nile River.
Southern Africa also has many remarkable parks, including Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia. Hwange National Park is the largest in Zimbabwe. The park has several camps scattered throughout from which visitors can view the large herd of elephants as well as numerous other large mammals. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park was Africa’s first park established across country borders. It was formed in 2000 by the union of two national parks: Kalahari Gemsbok National Park of South Africa and Gemsbok National Park of Botswana. The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park represents a collaborative conservation effort between Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe in an ecosystem with transnational boundaries. The park, covering more than 14,475 square miles (37,500 square kilometers) in the three countries, was created in 2002. It merged Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park, South Africa’s Kruger National Park, and Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park, as well as other surrounding areas.
Among the many national parks in Japan is Fuji-Hakone-Izu, which embraces Mount Fuji, the famous volcanic cone. Setonaikai (Inland Sea) National Park has spectacular seascapes. In Akan National Park there are crater lakes. Chubu-Sangaku includes the high peaks of the Japanese Alps. Nikko National Park, with its sacred temples, also lies in a mountainous area.
In India such animals as the tiger, leopard, and sloth bear find sanctuary in Corbett National Park in the foothills of the Himalayas, in Uttarakhand state in the north. The endangered Asiatic lion is protected in Gir National Park, in Gujarat state of western India. Other national parks in the country include Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Rajasthan, northwestern India, and Madhav National Park in Madhya Pradesh state, central India. Gal Oya National Park in Sri Lanka consists mainly of a large reservoir. It is the home of such animals as the elephant, water buffalo, and leopard as well as of an abundance of birdlife.
Popular Southeast Asian national parks include Khao Yao in Thailand, Cat Ba in Vietnam, and Botum Sakor in Cambodia. Several islands in the Philippines have national parks.
Australia has an extensive system of national parks. Royal National Park, founded in 1879 as the National Park, is the country’s oldest national park. It was the second national park established in the world (after Yellowstone National Park). Royal National Park is located in New South Wales, as is Kosciuszko National Park, which encompasses Australia’s highest point at Mount Kosciuszko. The scenic wonders of Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park in South Australia include mountains, gorges, and creeks. The park also preserves rock art and other cultural sites of the Adnyamathanha people.
In New Zealand Tongariro is the oldest national park in the country. It was established in 1894. Other national parks in New Zealand include Egmont, which is centered around the dormant volcano Mount Taranaki (or Mount Egmont), and Fiordland, which features glacier-carved valleys and high waterfalls.
In Great Britain property is acquired under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, and South Downs national parks are among the largest in England. Wales has three national parks: Pembrokeshire Coast, Snowdonia, and Brecon Beacons. Together they make up about 20 percent of the country. Cairngorms National Park in Scotland is the largest national park in the British Isles. It covers more than 1,748 square miles (4,528 square kilometers) of Highland country and contains rare fauna and flora. Associated with this national park are the Cairngorm Mountains, the highest mountain massif in the British Isles. A winter-sports industry developed there and expanded rapidly after World War II. Recreational activities include skiing, ice and rock climbing, and hiking.
Swiss National Park in eastern Switzerland embraces scenic land in the Alps. Italy’s oldest national park is Gran Paradiso, in the Alps. It was established as a national park in 1922 after having served as a Royal Hunting Reserve. A portion of the western boundary of the park adjoins France’s oldest park, Vanoise. Germany has several national parks, including those in the Bavarian Forest and the Black Forest. Croatia’s Mljet National Park is located on the island of Mljet along the Adriatic Sea. It helps to preserve the area’s natural beauty. In both Poland and Belarus, national parks in the Białowieża (or Belovezhskaya) Forest protect old-growth forest where European bison roam.
Latin American countries have set aside areas to save them from exploitation. Ecuador declared the Galápagos Islands a wildlife sanctuary in 1935, and in 1959 the sanctuary became a national park. Easter Island and the Juan Fernández Islands are national parks that Chile owns.
Organ Mountains National Park of Brazil, near Rio de Janeiro, was created in 1939. Argentina’s Nahuel Huapí National Park includes a number of exquisite lakes in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Iguazú National Park on the Argentine-Brazilian boundary contains one of the world’s greatest waterfalls. Venezuela’s Canaima National Park includes Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall.
Mexico has several national parks, including the Cacahuamilpa Caves in the state of Guerrero; Cerro de Garnica, a mountain in Michoacán; and El Potosí, a wildflower and wildlife reserve in San Luis Potosí. The villages of Taxco and San Miguel de Allende are national monuments, preserved for their Spanish colonial architecture.
Within the national parks of Canada are spectacular landscapes that attract naturalists and tourists from all parts of the world. Each year millions of people visit Canada’s parks and historic sites.
In 1885 Canada’s government set aside 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) of land to preserve the hot mineral springs that bubble from the slope of Mount Sulphur at Banff, Alberta. These springs had been discovered in 1883 and were known as the Cave and Basin Hot Springs. In 1887 the area was established as a national park, and it was later named Banff National Park. This was the beginning of Canada’s national park system.
Facilities for winter sports have been developed in many of the parks. Trail riding is a popular form of recreation, and guides and saddle ponies may be hired locally. Fishing, swimming, boating, hiking, and mountain climbing are other favorite sports.
The national parks are also game sanctuaries. Hunting is prohibited, and visitors are not permitted to disturb the animals or the birds and their nests.
Parks Canada of the Department of the Environment and Climate Change administers the parks for the benefit of the visitors and preserves them for the enjoyment of future generations. New areas are added to the national park system through the cooperation of the provincial or territorial governments.
A new national park in Canada may be established by an act of Parliament after the land under consideration has been acquired by the provincial government. The park site is then transferred, together with its mineral and other resources rights, to the administration of the federal government.
In addition to the parks that protect natural features, there are national historic sites all over Canada commemorating places important in Canadian history. The historic sites of Canada include restored military forts, fur-trading posts, historic buildings, lighthouses, battlefields, and canals.
A site is declared to be of national historical significance on the recommendation of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, an advisory group of historians representing all the provinces. The board advises the Department of the Environment and Climate Change on new landmarks. There are also hundreds of provincial parks.
In 2002 the Canadian government developed National Marine Conservation Areas. Canada’s vast ocean and Great Lakes regions were divided into 29 sections, each representing its own unique habitat. Conservation areas were then to be established in each section to preserve the marine environment. Early National Marine Conservation Areas include Fathom Five National Marine Park in Lake Huron; Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, where the two rivers meet; and Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area in Lake Superior.
Parks Canada administers more than 40 national parks and some 170 of the nearly 1,000 historic sites in Canada. Some sites from each category are listed here. The date shown after each unit is the year the area was established.
Akami-Uapishk-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve, 2015, southeastern Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador. Tundra, forests, rivers, and coastal beach centered around the Mealy Mountains.
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, 1928, at Baddeck, Nova Scotia. A museum near Alexander Graham Bell’s summer home containing the inventor’s records of research.
Aulavik National Park, 1992, northern Banks Island, Northwest Territories. An arctic wilderness area with lowland tundra, river valleys, buttes, and hills.
Auyuittuq National Park, 1972, on Cumberland Peninsula of Baffin Island, Nunavut. A scenic area with fjords, deeply carved mountains, and numerous glaciers.
Banff National Park, 1887, Alberta. A scenic wilderness area on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. The park contains many peaks that are more than 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) high, including Mount Columbia at 11,365 feet (3,464 meters).
Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, 1995, near Longview, southwest Alberta. The site of the Northwest Cattle Company ranch, founded in 1882.
Batoche National Historic Site, 1951, at Batoche, Saskatchewan. The Métis headquarters during the North-West Rebellion—pitting the Métis and their Cree allies against the Canadian government—of 1885.
Bellevue House National Historic Site, 1967, in Kingston, Ontario. The home of John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, in 1848–49.
Bruce Peninsula National Park, 1987, Ontario. A wilderness area along Lake Huron with limestone cliffs and mixed-wood forests.
Cape Breton Highlands National Park, 1936, Nova Scotia. On Cape Breton Island, a rugged coastline with a mountain background. The scenic drive along Cabot Trail offers stunning ocean views and old-growth (virgin) forests.
Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic Site, 1962, near St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. A lighthouse on North America’s most easterly point.
Carleton Martello Tower National Historic Site, 1924, in Saint John, New Brunswick. A harbor defense built during the War of 1812.
Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site, 1958, in Quebec, Quebec. The winter quarters (1535–36) of French explorer Jacques Cartier.
Castle Hill National Historic Site, 1968, in Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. The remains of a 17th-century French fort as well as a British fort constructed there in the 18th century.
Côteau-du-Lac National Historic Site, 1965, in Côteau-du-Lac, Quebec. The site of an early 18th-century British military post and the first canal built on the St. Lawrence River.
Elk Island National Park, 1913, central Alberta. A rolling landscape of aspen forests, prairie meadows, and wetlands. The park is a refuge for large mammals such as elk and bison and numerous species of birds.
Forillon National Park, 1970, Quebec. The scenic tip of Gaspé Peninsula.
Fort Anne National Historic Site, 1917, in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Buildings and earthworks from the 1700s.
Fort Battleford National Historic Site, 1951, in Battleford, Saskatchewan. The historic buildings of the North West Mounted Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police).
Fort Beauséjour–Fort Cumberland National Historic Site, 1926, near Sackville, New Brunswick. The site of a French fort built in 1750–55, captured by the British in 1755, and defended against the Americans in 1776.
Fort Chambly National Historic Site, 1921, at Chambly, Quebec. The site of a stone fort built by the French in 1709–11. It was built on top of a succession of 16th-century wooden French forts.
Fort George National Historic Site, 1969, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The site of British fortifications from the War of 1812.
Fortifications of Quebec National Historic Site, in Quebec, Quebec. Commemorates Quebec’s system of defense along the St. Lawrence River from 1608 to 1871. The site includes buildings, defensive walls, artillery, and parcels of land.
Fort Langley National Historic Site, 1923, in Fort Langley, British Columbia. A rebuilt Hudson’s Bay Company post near the mouth of the Fraser River.
Fort Lennox National Historic Site, 1921, on Île-aux-Nois, near St-Jean, Quebec. British 18th-century military architecture on an island in the Richelieu River.
Fort Malden National Historic Site, 1937, in Amherstburg, Ontario. The site of a series of strategic British forts, important during the War of 1812 and the rebellion period of the late 1830s.
Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, 1940, on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The site of the last French fort built in North America, dating from the early 18th century.
Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site, 1962, in Colwood, British Columbia. The extensive stone and concrete coastal fortifications and a lighthouse built in the late 1800s.
Fort St. Joseph National Historic Site, 1928, southeast of Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. The remains of a British fort built in 1796.
Fort Walsh National Historic Site, 1924, in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. The site of an early North West Mounted Police (now Royal Canadian Mounted Police) post.
Fort Wellington National Historic Site, 1940, in Prescott, Ontario. A defense post built in 1812–14.
Fundy National Park, 1948, New Brunswick. A scenic Bay of Fundy overlook on the Atlantic coast.
Georgian Bay Islands National Park, 1929, south-central Ontario. A group of 63 picturesque islands with recreational areas.
Glacier National Park, 1886, British Columbia. A scenic area in the Selkirk Mountains featuring canyons, glaciers, rivers, and waterfalls.
Grand-Pré National Historic Site, 1961, in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia. The site of a former Acadian village.
Grasslands National Park, 1981, on the southern Saskatchewan border. Preserves the original short-grass prairie flora and fauna.
Gros Morne National Park, 1970, Newfoundland and Labrador. A scenic wilderness area encompassing mountains, beaches, lakes, and forests on the western coast of the island of Newfoundland.
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site, 1987, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. A spectacular wilderness area of more than 1,800 islands. The reserve includes rare mosses and unusual animal subspecies. The remains of historic Haida villages and totem poles are scattered throughout the islands.
Halifax Citadel National Historic Site, 1956, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The site of several successive forts that protected Halifax Harbor from 1749 to 1906.
Ivvavik National Park, 1984, northwestern Yukon. The tundra and British Mountains area on the Beaufort Sea above the Arctic Circle. The park is a major animal habitat and the calving ground for large reindeer (caribou).
Jasper National Park, 1907, western Alberta. The largest national park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The park features an alpine landscape with ice-capped mountains and glaciers, lakes, canyons, and hot springs.
Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site, 1968, Nova Scotia. Preserves the interior lake country of southern Nova Scotia. The site includes Indian (First Nation) petroglyphs.
Kluane National Park and Reserve, 1942, southwestern Yukon. A vast mountain wilderness that contains Canada’s highest mountains, with ice fields and glaciers.
Kootenay National Park, 1920, southeastern British Columbia. An area on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The national park is centered around the Kootenay River. Snowcapped peaks, glaciers, cascades, hot springs, canyons, and green valleys characterize the area.
Kouchibouguac National Park, 1969, New Brunswick. Situated on Kouchibouguac Bay along the northern section of the Northumberland Strait. The park offers woodland and sandy beaches, salt marshes, and peat bogs.
La Mauricie National Park, 1970, Quebec. A heavily wooded and lake section of the Laurentian Mountains near Trois-Rivières.
Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site, 1951, north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. A stone-walled fort built by the Hudson’s Bay Company in the 1830s.
Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, 1984, Quebec. Preserves coastal land and more than 1,000 islands and inlets in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The area includes unique rock formations and rare birds, plants, and flowers.
Mount Revelstoke National Park, 1914, southern British Columbia. A mountaintop plateau on the western slope of the Selkirk Mountains that offers a spectacular view of three mountain ranges.
Nahanni National Park Reserve, 1972, southwestern Northwest Territories. A wilderness area containing three large, deep canyons and a variety of birds, wildlife, and flowers.
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, 1970, British Columbia. A beach and forest area on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Point Pelee National Park, 1918, near Leamington, Ontario. A recreational area on Lake Erie and the southernmost point of Canada. The park, a bird sanctuary, includes beaches, marshland, and forests.
Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst National Historic Site, 1967, near Rocky Point, Prince Edward Island. The site of a French settlement of 1720, captured by the British in 1758.
Port-Royal National Historic Site, 1940, near Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia. A reconstructed French fort, called Habitation, first built in 1605.
Prince Albert National Park, 1927, central Saskatchewan. A forested wilderness with lakes and streams.
Prince Edward Island National Park, 1937, Prince Edward Island. A coastal strip on the northern shore of the island. The scenic area includes dunes and cliffs.
Prince of Wales Fort National Historic Site, 1940, near Churchill, Manitoba. A fortress built by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1731–71.
Prince of Wales Tower National Historic Site, 1956, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Part of the Halifax Defense Complex, a series of towers built in the 1790s to protect the British coast from French attack.
Pukaskwa National Park, 1971, Ontario. Along the northern shore of Lake Superior in the wilderness area of central Ontario. The rugged terrain contains many lakes, sandy beaches, and high cliffs.
Qausuittuq National Park, 2015, Bathurst Island, Nunavut. An Arctic wilderness featuring river valleys and lowlands. The park is the home of the endangered Peary caribou (reindeer).
Quttinirpaaq National Park, 1986, Nunavut. The northernmost land in Canada, featuring towering mountains and vast ice fields.
Riding Mountain National Park, 1929, southern Manitoba. Forests, grasslands, and lakes surrounding the Manitoba Escarpment.
Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site, 1970, near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. The site of the 19th-century northwestern fur trade.
St. Andrews Blockhouse National Historic Site, 1962, in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. Built at the outbreak of the War of 1812.
Signal Hill National Historic Site, 1956, on St. John’s Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador. A hill overlooking St. John’s Harbour and the Atlantic Ocean that served as a defense and communications site from the 1640s to the 1940s.
SS Klondike National Historic Site, 1960, in Whitehorse, Yukon. A restored British Yukon Navigation Company riverboat that used to traverse the Yukon River.
Terra Nova National Park, 1957, eastern Newfoundland and Labrador. Canada’s easternmost national park, featuring forests, ponds, and bogs.
Thousand Islands National Park, 1904, Ontario. Mainland area and several of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River.
Tuktut Nogait National Park, 1998, northern Northwest Territories and Nunavut. A remote wilderness area north of the Arctic Circle. The tundra draws reindeer (caribou), brown bears, and wolves.
Vuntut National Park, 1995, northern Yukon. A remote wilderness area above the Arctic Circle. The grassy hills and rocky peaks of the British Mountains are home to an annual migration of some 200,000 reindeer (caribou).
Waterton Lakes National Park, 1895, southern Alberta. The Canadian part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (see Glacier National Park).
Wood Buffalo National Park, 1922, Alberta and Northwest Territories. The largest national park in Canada. The forests and plains house the world’s largest free-roaming bison herd as well as natural nesting grounds of the whooping crane.
Woodside National Historic Site, 1954, in Kitchener, Ontario. The boyhood home of Mackenzie King, the longest-serving (nonconsecutively) prime minister of Canada.
York Redoubt National Historic Site, 1956, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A fort built in 1793, part of the Halifax defense system to protect the British coast from the French.
Traditionally, the choicest lands of a country were reserved in princely forests and parks for the privileged few. Today every citizen of the United States shares in the ownership of the towering mountain peaks, gigantic canyons, sandy beaches, swampy marshland, and lush forests of the national parks. The park system includes recreation areas, parks, preserves, and reserves; monuments, memorials, and cemeteries; historic sites and historical parks; seashores, lakeshores, and scenic rivers and riverways; parkways and scenic trails; military parks, battlefields, and battlefield parks and sites; and the park system of the country’s capital. The success of the American system has inspired other governments to emulate it.
As early as 1832, George Catlin, an American artist and author, first proposed the idea of national parks in which Native Americans and wild country could both be preserved. In 1851 a California state militia force pursued Native Americans into the Yosemite Valley and thus saw—and began to publicize—the splendor of the area. Within a few years settlers arrived. Some established lodgings for visitors who arrived by horseback or by foot. Painters and photographers captured the beauty of the area, drawing more people. Meanwhile, landowners surrounding Niagara Falls in New York began to enclose their land with fences and charge admission to see the site, and the area became run down. Fearing that the same would happen to Yosemite, a California senator in 1864 proposed a bill calling for the Yosemite Valley to be preserved. That June President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill. The Yosemite land thus became a California state park.
The next development in the establishment of the national parks occurred in 1870. That year the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition set out to explore the area around the upper Yellowstone River. The small party confirmed the existence of the area’s unique features of steam vents, fumaroles, colorful hot pools, mud cauldrons, paint pots, hot springs and terraces, hot rivers, and geysers. One member, Nathaniel Pitt Langford, popularized his account of the area through magazine articles and lectures.
In 1871 the United States government sent the geologist Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden to investigate the region. His enthusiastic support, added to the growing popular demand, won the approval of Congress. In 1872 President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill that made Yellowstone a “pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” This was the first national park, and it is still the largest in the system. Eighteen years passed before Sequoia, Yosemite, and General Grant (now Kings Canyon) national parks were established in 1890. Hot Springs in Arkansas had been set aside in 1832 as a government reservation, but it did not become a national park until 1921.
An act of Congress creates the United States national parks. Another act of Congress is required to change park boundaries or to modify the basic protection, unless boundary adjustment provisions were spelled out in the original act. The parks may be established on lands that are already owned by the government as part of the public domain, or the lands in a proposed area may be purchased by the government or deeded to it by individuals. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, for example, was acquired by the United States and established in 1934 as a result of the combined efforts of the states of Tennessee and North Carolina, public-spirited citizens, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Foundation.
As settlement and industry spread to every corner of the country, there was a growing feeling that the government should save for the people not only scenic areas but also treasures of archaeology, botany, geology, and history. Under the Antiquities Act of 1906 the president was authorized to set apart as national monuments federal land containing landmarks, structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest. The national monuments are usually smaller than the parks.
The National Park Service, a major bureau of the Department of the Interior, was established in 1916 to administer, protect, and maintain the park areas. It builds roads, trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, and other facilities. The chief official of each park is the resident superintendent. A force of park rangers, naturalists, and historians assists the superintendent. In most cases private businesses operate transportation, overnight accommodations, and other visitor facilities. The government awards the businesses a contract that allows them to provide visitor services.
A valuable feature of the park system is the interpretive program. Rangers, naturalists, and historians take groups on the park trails and give informal talks. Museums are designed so that the average visitor can find out what an area has to offer. Some parks and monuments are of such great scientific interest that educational institutions use them as outdoor classrooms during the summer.
Small admission fees are charged in certain parks and monuments. In some parks, higher fees are levied for automobile permits. In caves and various archaeological and historical areas there are small charges for guide service.
In 1933 a presidential executive order gave the National Park Service control of military parks, battlefield sites, and national cemeteries and other memorials maintained by the Departments of War and Agriculture. The battlefield sites and military parks commemorate battles of the American Revolution and the American Civil War.
Also in 1933 the National Park Service began supervising the National Capital Parks. This park system consists of units in and near the District of Columbia. They are separated into several administrative groups, including the National Mall and Memorial Parks and the National Capitol Parks–East.
Parkways are also part of the national park system. The Blue Ridge Parkway links Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks. The George Washington Memorial Parkway serves as a link between historical landmarks around Washington, D.C.
The Historic Sites Act of 1935 permitted the secretary of the interior to acquire historic American sites, buildings, objects, and antiquities. The secretary may also enter into agreements for the cooperative preservation and use of sites owned by states, corporations, or individuals.
In 1966 the Historic Preservation Act was passed. It established the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to advise the president and Congress and to coordinate federal, state, and private activities in the field of preservation.
The National Trails System Act was passed in 1968. It allowed for the establishment of a system of trails, both historic and scenic. The first two were the Appalachian National Scenic Trail from Maine to Georgia and the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail from Washington to California. The National Park System jointly administers many of the trails with other entities. These may include local, state, or federal governments; nonprofit groups and other interested organizations; Native American nations; and private landowners.
Congress also passed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968. That act was responsible for preserving either entire rivers or portions of them that have been declared culturally, naturally, geologically, or recreationally important. For example, Bluestone National Scenic River preserves a 10.5-mile- (17-kilometer-) long stretch of the Bluestone River in West Virginia.
Recreational travel within the United States is a big business, involving the expenditure of billions of dollars annually. Among the chief attractions for tourists are the units of the national park system.
Many people believe that once a national park is established, it will be preserved forever. However, commercial projects might damage or destroy the park. A dam built across a stream on the park’s borders may wipe out its finest features. Lumbering, mining, and sheep and cattle grazing could also injure the area.
To help maintain the high standards of the park system, the National Parks Association (now the National Parks Conservation Association) was established in 1919. It is a nonprofit organization supported by membership dues and donations. It works with the federal government to prevent commercialization of the parks and to promote the preservation of new areas of wilderness country. It publishes the National Parks magazine.
A list of park areas of the United States national park system, except national cemeteries and national wild and scenic rivers, follows. The present name may not be the name by which the area was originally known. The date given for each unit is that of the earliest federal action setting the area aside for protection.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site, 1916, near Hodgenville, central Kentucky. The one-room log cabin in which Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, reputedly was born. The structure is enclosed in a granite memorial building. Sunken gardens and granite stairs leading up over terraces make an impressive approach to the shrine. The site also includes a part of the Sinking Spring Farm that Lincoln’s father once owned.
Acadia National Park, 1916, Maine coast. Includes part of granite, sea-girdled Mount Desert Island; half of Isle au Haut, with its spectacular cliffs; and the headland of the Schoodic Peninsula. Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the eastern coast of North America at 1,532 feet (467 meters), commands a magnificent view of the sea and coast.
African Burial Ground National Monument, 2006, in Manhattan, New York. Preserves the burial ground of 17th- and 18th-century free and enslaved African Americans.
Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, 1965, northern Texas. Quarries where prehistoric Indians dating back to 9500 bc dug agatized dolomite from which tools were made.
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, 1964, near Altoona, Pennsylvania. The remains of the Pennsylvania Canal and the Allegheny Portage Railroad—a 36-mile- (58-kilometer-) long inclined-plane railroad that lifted canalboat passengers and cargoes over the Allegheny Mountains.
Amistad National Recreation Area, 1965, on Rio Grande River, Texas. Contains the United States portion of Amistad (Friendship) Dam and Amistad Reservoir.
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, 1935, in Greeneville, Tennessee. The home and grave of Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States.
Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, 1978, southern Alaska. Volcanic crater with lava flows, cinder cones, explosion pits, and Surprise Lake, the source of the Aniakchak River.
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 1970, northern Wisconsin. Twenty-one islands and a 12-mile (19-kilometer) strip of Bayfield Peninsula along the south shore of Lake Superior.
Appalachian National Scenic Trail, 1968, through 14 states. A trail about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) long, extending generally along the Appalachian Mountains from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia.
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, 1930, Virginia. Scene of the surrender of the Confederate Army under General Robert E. Lee to the Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant in 1865, effectively ending the Civil War.
Arches National Park, 1929, eastern Utah. Massive red sandstone eroded by desert winds into fantastic forms.
Arkansas Post National Memorial, 1960, southeastern Arkansas. In 1686 became the site of a European trading post. The area subsequently became the first permanent white settlement in the lower Mississippi River valley.
Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial, 1925, in Arlington, Virginia. An antebellum mansion built by George Washington Parke Custis, George Washington’s foster son and step-grandchild. It was subsequently the Robert E. Lee home.
Assateague Island National Seashore, 1965, Maryland and Virginia. A 37-mile- (60-kilometer-) long barrier island. It is home to the Chincoteague ponies, descendents of settlers’ horses brought to the island in the 17th century.
Aztec Ruins National Monument, 1923, northwestern New Mexico. The remains of an Ancestral Pueblo town built in the 12th century, including a multilevel “great house” containing about 500 rooms centered on an open plaza.
Badlands National Park, 1939, southwestern South Dakota. An eroded region of winding canyons, towering pinnacles, ridges, and isolated buttes between the White and the Cheyenne rivers.
Bandelier National Monument, 1916, north-central New Mexico. The ruins of Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings and pueblos in Frijoles Canyon and on the Pajarito Plateau. Ceremonial chambers, man-made caves, and petroglyphs have been uncovered.
Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, 1960, near La Junta, Colorado. A significant adobe fur-trading post of the Old West and a rendezvous for Native Americans.
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, 1978, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska. A tundra area that once connected Asia and North America.
Big Bend National Park, 1935, southwestern Texas. The last great wilderness in Texas, where the Rio Grande bends to the northeast. The region is a semiarid plain from which rise the southernmost spurs of the Rocky Mountains.
Big Hole National Battlefield, 1910, near Wisdom, Montana. The site where U.S. troops defeated a band of Nez Percé on August 9–10, 1877.
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, 1966, Wyoming and Montana. Surrounds a 71-mile- (114-kilometer-) long reservoir created by Yellowtail Dam on the Bighorn River and extends 55 miles (89 kilometers) through Bighorn Canyon.
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, 1974, Tennessee and Kentucky. Scenic gorges and valleys containing a wide range of natural and historical features along the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and its tributaries.
Big Thicket National Preserve, 1974, southeastern Texas. Large area encompassing nine ecosystems, including pine forest, cypress swamp, and prairie.
Biscayne National Park, 1968, off southeastern Florida. Contains a complex of submerged living coral reef, emergent keys, and sheltered bay bottoms.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, 1933, western Colorado. A 10-mile- (16-kilometer-) long spectacular stretch of a deep gorge through which the Gunnison River travels.
Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, 2014, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The site of mills along the Blackstone River, deemed the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.
Blue Ridge Parkway, 1933, Virginia and North Carolina. A scenic motor route, extending 469 miles (755 kilometers) primarily through the Blue Ridge segment of the Appalachian Mountains. It connects Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks.
Booker T. Washington National Monument, 1956, near Rocky Mount, Virginia. The birthplace of noted black educator and reformer Booker T. Washington.
Boston African American National Historic Site, 1980, in Boston, Massachusetts. Focuses on the Black Heritage Trail in the Beacon Hill area of the city. A walking tour takes visitors past various sites important to 19th-century African American life and the fight against slavery.
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, 1996, near Boston, Massachusetts. Thirty-four islands and peninsulas in Boston Harbor. The islands offer recreational opportunities as well as historic destinations, such as a lighthouse and Civil War fort.
Boston National Historical Park, 1974, in Boston, Massachusetts. Includes Faneuil Hall, Old North Church, Old State House, Bunker Hill, Old South Meeting House, Paul Revere House, and other historic sites.
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, 1992, in Topeka, Kansas. Consists of Monroe Elementary School, one of the schools over which the fight for desegregation began.
Bryce Canyon National Park, 1923, southern Utah. An area of spectacular rock formations in varying shades of pink, orange, and white. The formations include columns, narrow walls, arches, mazes, cathedrals, and recesses.
Buck Island Reef National Monument, 1961, off northeastern coast of St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. An uninhabited islet surrounded by a coral barrier reef and shallow waters rich in marine life. The island is a rookery for frigate birds and pelicans and the habitat of several species of endangered or threatened turtles.
Buffalo National River, 1972, northern Arkansas. Includes 135 miles (217 kilometers) of the Buffalo River as it travels through the Ozark Mountains. It became the first river in the United States to be designated a national river.
Cabrillo National Monument, 1913, Point Loma, southern California. In honor of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the discoverer of California. He first sighted its shore at this point in September 1542. The monument commands a beautiful view of the sea and the wide curving coastline.
Canaveral National Seashore, 1975, near Titusville, Florida. Twenty-four miles (39 kilometers) of undeveloped barrier island adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center. The natural beach, dune, marsh, and lagoon provide habitats for a variety of wildlife.
Cane River Creole National Historical Park, 1994, near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Two 19th-century French Creole cotton plantations and their accompanying buildings—including blacksmith shops, overseers’ houses, and slave quarters—in the Cane River area.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument, 1931, northeastern Arizona. Rock formations and archaeological sites including prehistoric cliff dwellings in several canyons. The dwellings, dating between ad 350 and 1300, record cultural progress over a longer period than any other ruins in the Southwest.
Canyonlands National Park, 1964, southeastern Utah. A colorful wilderness area with spectacular rock formations, broad plains, bold mesas, rapids, sandbars, and canyons. The Colorado River with its tributaries has shaped the scenery. The Green River joins the Colorado within the park.
Cape Cod National Seashore, 1961, eastern Massachusetts. Beaches, dunes, woodlands, freshwater ponds, and marshes on outer Cape Cod. For three centuries the area has been a landmark and haven for mariners.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, 1937, eastern North Carolina. Beaches, waterfowl, fishing, and lighthouses on barrier reefs. It is noted for being the first national seashore in the United States.
Cape Krusenstern National Monument, 1978, northwestern Alaska. Archaeological sites along a succession of beach ridges illustrating Eskimo communities of every known cultural period in Alaska, dating back 5,000 years.
Cape Lookout National Seashore, 1966, eastern North Carolina. Three barrier islands of the lower Outer Banks, embracing beaches, low dunes, salt marshes, and Cape Lookout Lighthouse.
Capitol Reef National Park, 1937, central Utah. A long, narrow area of imposing sandstone formations. It is part of a fault, or line of breakage, that occurred many millions of years ago when the horizontal rocks were forced upward. Wind and water erosion created fantastical cliffs, canyons, pinnacles, towers, arches, and domes. Petrified forests, fossil deposits, and petroglyphs and pictographs of prehistoric Native Americans attract scientists in many fields.
Capulin Volcano National Monument, 1916, northeastern New Mexico. The steep-sided cinder cone of a now-extinct volcano that was active between 56,000 and 62,000 years ago. It reaches an elevation of 8,182 feet (2,494 meters) above sea level and rises more than 1,300 feet (400 meters) above the surrounding grass-covered plains. A broad platform at the base was built up by successive flows of lava.
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, 1968, near Flat Rock, North Carolina. The home of poet Carl Sandburg for the last 22 years of his life.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 1923, southeastern New Mexico. Near the base of the Guadalupe Mountains, perhaps the largest underground labyrinth in the world. The caves, which were formed millions of years ago, contain stalactites, stalagmites, and other interesting formations.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, 1889, south-central Arizona. A group of prehistoric Pueblo Indian ruins from the early 14th century, of which the Casa Grande (“Big House”) is the largest. Its clay walls are the remains of a four-story structure. It is the only pre-Columbian building of its type in existence.
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, 1924, in St. Augustine, Florida. The oldest existing masonry fort in the continental United States. The Spanish began its construction in 1672. The fort is built of coquina (shell stone), with walls 14 to 19 feet (4.3 to 5.8 meters) thick at the bottom and decreasing to 9 feet (2.7 meters) thick at the top. Like a medieval castle, it has a moat with a drawbridge and a portcullis. After the United States acquired Florida in 1819, the fort was named for General Francis Marion. The Seminole war chief Osceola was imprisoned there. The Spanish name was restored in 1942.
Castle Clinton National Monument, 1946, in New York, New York. A fort built in 1808–11 and originally called the West Battery. It was named Castle Clinton after the War of 1812. From 1855 to 1890, before Ellis Island was opened, the building was an immigrant receiving station; from 1896 to 1941 it was an aquarium. Beginning in the 1820s it became an entertainment center and was called Castle Garden; in the 1840s it was turned into a theater. Battery Park was reconstructed in 1952 and Castle Clinton was reopened in 1975.
Castle Mountains National Monument, 2016, southeastern California. Preserves the flora and fauna of the Castle Mountains and the surrounding Mojave Desert.
Cedar Breaks National Monument, 1933, southwestern Utah. A vast amphitheater cut into the Pink Cliffs, like Bryce Canyon to the east. The cliffs mark the edge of the Markagunt Plateau. White or orange at the top, they shade into deep rose and coral, with splashes of dazzling white and sulphur yellow. The amphitheater is more than 2,000 feet (610 meters) deep and 3 miles (5 kilometers) in diameter. From its rim brilliantly colored rock is visible. (See also Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park.)
Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park, 2002, near Middletown, Virginia. Commemorates the October 19, 1864, Battle of Cedar Creek, which was a Union victory at the end of the Civil War. Also on the site is Belle Grove, a late-18th-century plantation house typical of the Shenandoah Valley. Union General Philip Sheridan used it as his headquarters during the battle.
César E. Chávez National Monument, 2012, near Keene, California. The home of migrant organizer César Chávez and the National Farm Workers Association, which he founded in 1962.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, 1907, northwestern New Mexico. The highest development of Ancestral Pueblo civilization in the Southwest represented in major ruins in and around Chaco Canyon. Some 4,000 archaeological sites represent the native peoples who flourished from the 9th to 13th centuries. Pueblo Bonito (“Beautiful Village”) is the most completely excavated ruin. It contained hundreds of rooms in a half circle and housed a thousand or more people. In the middle of the half circle were kivas, or ceremonial chambers. Succeeding generations added to the pueblo.
Chamizal National Memorial, 1966, in El Paso, Texas. Memorializes the peaceful settlement by the Chamizal Treaty, signed in 1963, of a century-long boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico.
Channel Islands National Park, 1938, southern California. Five islands—Anacapa, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa—set aside to preserve their fossils and their unique plant and animal life. A large rookery of sea lions and seals flourishes today where pygmy mammoths once lived. The islands are also examples of ancient volcanic eruption and active sea erosion.
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, 1988, in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Former farmland of Founding Father Charles Pinckney. Archaeological excavations have uncovered buildings from Pinckney’s era.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, 2013, in Wilberforce, Ohio. The home of Charles Young, a military soldier. The site also commemorates the buffalo soldiers, whom Young commanded.
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, 1971, Maryland and Washington, D.C. An example of one of the most important forms of early transportation in the United States. The park follows the route along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, 1890, Georgia and Tennessee. Civil War battlefields of Chickamauga, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge, important in operations around Chattanooga, Tennessee, during 1863.
Chickasaw National Recreation Area, 1902, south-central Oklahoma. Centers around the man-made Lake of the Arbuckles, which provides water recreation. There are numerous cold mineral and freshwater springs. The area includes the former Arbuckle National Recreation Area and Platt National Park.
Chimney Rock National Historic Site (nonfederal), 1956, near Bayard, Nebraska. A famous landmark and campsite on the Oregon Trail, standing some 500 feet (150 meters) above the North Platte River.
Chiricahua National Monument, 1924, southeastern Arizona. A region of volcanic rock eroded into pillars and balanced rock formations. Steep-walled canyons separate many of the groups.
Christiansted National Historic Site, 1952, in Christiansted, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. Commemorates the Danish colonial development of the islands, the former capital of the Danish West Indies.
City of Rocks National Reserve, 1988, south-central Idaho. Unusual rock formations, including arches and depressions, created by weathering and erosion. The area preserves a route that early settlers used to pass through the Albion Mountains to California.
Colonial National Historical Park, 1930, eastern Virginia. The history and life of colonial Virginia, reconstructed in four areas—Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America; part of Yorktown, the scene of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at the close of the American Revolution, including several colonial homes; Cape Henry Memorial, where the colonists first touched Virginia soil in 1607; and a 23-mile (37-kilometer) parkway between Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown.
Colorado National Monument, 1911, west-central Colorado. A magnificently eroded escarpment that rises above Grand Valley. Numerous canyons cut back for miles from its face into the Uncompahgre Uplands. Along the sheer front, hundreds of red sandstone towers stand out from the main ledges. A scenic road, Rim Rock Drive, bisects the monument skirting Red, Ute, and Monument canyons. At Cold Shivers Point, on the brink of a 1,000-foot (300-meter) precipice, it overlooks Columbus Canyon. Serpents Trail, a foot trail, winds from the base to near the rim, where it connects with Rim Rock Drive.
Congaree National Park, 1976, near Columbia, South Carolina. Preserves the last significant tract of virgin southern bottomland hardwoods in the southeastern United States. Trees include cypress, loblolly pine, tupelo, oak, and maple.
Coronado National Memorial, 1952, near Bisbee, Arizona. Commemorates the explorations of Francisco Coronado in the Southwest in 1540–42.
Cowpens National Battlefield, 1929, near Chesnee, South Carolina. Site of General Daniel Morgan’s victory over the British in 1781 during the American Revolution.
Crater Lake National Park, 1902, southwestern Oregon. Exquisite lake in the crater of an extinct volcano in the Cascade Range. Sheer cliffs from 500 to 2,000 feet (150 to 600 meters) high encircle its waters. Crater Lake is about 6 miles (10 kilometers) in diameter.
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, 1924, central Idaho. A region of comparatively recent volcanic activity, which left a lava plateau, cinder cones, spatter cones formed by bubbling lava, and broken crater walls (the Devil’s Orchard). The scene supposedly resembles the Moon’s surface in some respects.
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, 1940, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. The historic pass through the Appalachian Mountains traveled by Daniel Boone and other pioneers. The park extends for about 20 miles (30 kilometers) along the crest of Cumberland Mountain. It includes portions of the ancient trail known as the Warriors Path and the Wilderness Road, first called Boone’s Trace, at or near Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, and Middlesboro, Kentucky.
Cumberland Island National Seashore, 1972, St. Marys, Georgia. Unspoiled beaches and dunes, marshes, and freshwater lakes on the largest of Georgia’s Sea Islands.
Curecanti National Recreation Area, 1965, southwestern Colorado. Includes Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, and Crystal reservoirs, located on the Gunnison River, a tributary of the Colorado River.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 1974, northern Ohio. Situated between Cleveland and Akron, preserves the rural character of the river valley and such historic resources as the old Ohio and Erie Canal system.
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, 1992, in Dayton, Ohio. Sites dedicated to Wilbur and Orville Wright, including a house, a factory, and a field where they did test flights. Several early airplanes are on display. Also included in the park is the home where African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar lived from 1904 to 1906.
Death Valley National Park, 1933, southern California and Nevada. A vast desert hemmed in by brilliantly colored mountains. Located in Death Valley, the park is the hottest and driest national park in the United States.
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, 1965, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. A scenic area along the Delaware River that flows through the famous gap in the Appalachian Mountains. The park includes Eastern hemlock interspersed with white oak, red maple, and shagbark hickory and numerous small land and river animals.
Denali National Park and Preserve, 1917, south-central Alaska. Combines the former Mount McKinley National Park and Denali National Monument. The park includes North America’s highest mountain, Denali, at 20,310 feet (6,190 meters) above sea level. The top two-thirds of the way to the summit is snow covered year-round.
De Soto National Memorial, 1948, near Bradenton, Florida. Commemorates Hernando de Soto’s landing at what is now Tampa Bay in 1539.
Devils Postpile National Monument, 1911, east-central California. A sheer wall of basaltic columns packed together like a pile of posts. As hot lava cooled, it contracted and separated into these columns of three to seven sides, with diameters of 1 to 3 feet (0.3 to 0.9 meter). Glaciers subsequently moved over the area, exposed the columns, and polished their surfaces. From the top the Devils Postpile looks like a black mosaic or a section of tile-inlay flooring.
Devils Tower National Monument, 1906, northeastern Wyoming. A fluted column of volcanic rock, resembling a giant petrified tree stump. The column rises 1,267 feet (386 meters) above the Belle Fourche River and 867 feet (264 meters) above the ridge that forms its base. Molten lava forcing its way upward into layers of sedimentary rock created the tower some 60 million years ago. Devils Tower was a landmark of the pioneers in their journey to the West. In some directions it is visible for 100 miles (160 kilometers). Devils Tower was the first national monument in the United States.
Dinosaur National Monument, 1915, Utah and Colorado. Contains a large concentration of Jurassic Period fossilized dinosaur bones, including Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Allosaurus. Thousands of bones and many complete skeletons have been sent to museums. Most of the monument is a great wilderness area. Its principal features are the deep, rugged canyons formed by the Green River and an important tributary, the Yampa, that joins it at Echo Park within the monument. Bear Canyon, on the Yampa River, and Lodore, Whirlpool, and Split Mountain canyons, on the Green River, have spectacular beauty.
Dry Tortugas National Park, 1992, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Key West, Florida. The site of Fort Jefferson, on Garden Key, one of the coral islands of the Dry Tortugas group. The fort was begun in 1846, and work on it continued for about 30 years, although it was never completely finished. It was built to control the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida. The huge structure was first used during the Civil War, when it served as a military prison. Samuel A. Mudd, who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, was imprisoned there as a conspirator in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. His services in a yellow-fever epidemic won his pardon in 1869. The fort was abandoned in 1874 but was again occupied during the Spanish-American War in 1898. The park is a bird and turtle refuge.
Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, 1978, central Whidbey Island, northwestern Washington. A historic district on Puget Sound preserving the history and culture of the native and European people of the area. The reserve includes scenic vistas, beach access, and trails.
Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A three-building complex where American author Edgar Allan Poe worked and lived during 1843–44.
Effigy Mounds National Monument, 1949, northeastern Iowa. Native American burial mounds overlooking the Mississippi River. The site contains about 200 mounds, some shaped like birds and animals, including bears, turtles, and bison. Typical mounds range from 2.5 to 4 feet (0.8 to 1.2 meters) high. The bird mounds are from 70 to 120 feet (21 to 37 meters) across; the bear mounds, from 85 to 137 feet (26 to 42 meters) long. They date from about 500 bc to ad 1300.
Eisenhower National Historic Site, 1967, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The home and farm of Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1950. He retired there permanently in 1961, after he served as the 34th president of the United States.
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, 1977, in Hyde Park, New York. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s personal retreat. The cottage and small industries factory originally were built in the mid-1920s. The property includes fields, trees, swamps, and ponds.
El Malpais National Monument, 1987, west-central New Mexico. A barren wilderness area featuring cinder cones, lava tube caves, and sandstone bluffs. El Malpais is Spanish for “the Badlands.”
El Morro National Monument, 1906, west-central New Mexico. A mesa, or tablelike rock, rising 200 feet (60 meters) above the surrounding country. El Morro has a number of pre-Columbian petroglyphs, and on its top lie ruins of two Ancestral Pueblo villages. For many years the base was a refuge and camping place for the Spanish conquerors of the American Southwest. Native Americans, Spaniards, and others left hundreds of inscriptions (1605–1906) on the cliff sides of the mesa.
Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site, 1976, near Danville, California. A memorial to the American playwright Eugene O’Neill, who lived there from 1937 to 1944.
Everglades National Park, 1934, southern Florida. The only large subtropical area in the continental United States, notable for its mangrove and cypress swamps, orchids, marsh animals, and rare birds. The park encompasses the southwestern portion of the Everglades.
Federal Hall National Memorial, 1939, in New York City. The site of the first United States Capitol.
Fire Island National Seashore, 1964, New York. A barrier island off the south shore of Long Island, with beaches, dunes, marshes, and wildlife.
First Ladies National Historic Site, 2000, in Canton, Ohio. Commemorates the First Ladies of the United States. The site includes the restored home of Ida Saxton McKinley, where she lived from her birth in 1847 to 1871.
First State National Historical Park, 2013, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Seven sites dedicated to the history of Delaware, the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. The sites include Fort Christina, where Swedish and Finnish settlers began the New Sweden colony in 1638, and the public square called the Green. In a tavern on the square, Delaware county delegates ratified the Constitution in 1787.
Flight 93 National Memorial, 2002, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A crash site dedicated to those aboard United Airlines flight 93 originating in Newark, New Jersey, after terrorists hijacked it on September 11, 2001. The plane crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside after its passengers attempted to overpower their assailants.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, 1969, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. A wealth of petrified redwood trees and fossil insects, seeds, and leaves of the Eocene Epoch (66 million to 23 million years ago) are preserved in detail.
Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site, 1866, in Washington, D.C. The theater where John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, and the house across the street, where Lincoln died.
Fort Bowie National Historic Site, 1964, southeastern Arizona. The ruins of a fort established in 1862. It was the focal point of military operations against Geronimo and his band of Chiricahua Apache.
Fort Davis National Historic Site, 1961, western Texas. Once the key frontier military post defending western Texas. From 1854 to 1891 the fort protected emigrants on the San Antonio–El Paso road against hostile Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache.
Fort Frederica National Monument, 1936, on St. Simons Island, Georgia. The ruins of the fort James Oglethorpe established in 1736 as a defense against the Spanish.
Fort Laramie National Historic Site, 1938, near Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Associated with Western exploration and settlement from its beginning as a fur-trading post in 1834 until its abandonment in 1890. Thousands of emigrants on the Oregon Trail stopped there at the junction of the Laramie and North Platte rivers to rest and to replenish their supplies. The Pony Express riders paused to change horses. The federal government purchased it in 1849. The soldiers of Fort Laramie quelled uprisings, and several Indian treaties were signed there.
Fort Larned National Historic Site, 1964, near Larned, Kansas. Established in 1859 for the protection of the commercial traders on the Santa Fe Trail. It was a base for military operations in the Indian wars of the late 1860s.
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, 1925, in Baltimore, Maryland. A fort built on a peninsula in Baltimore Harbor in 1798. The British bombarded it on September 13, 1814, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” (See also national songs.)
Fort Matanzas National Monument, 1924, northeastern Florida. A fort erected by the Spanish in 1740–42 on an island in the Matanzas River. Its name, a Spanish word meaning “slaughters,” refers to an incident in the vicinity when the Spanish under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés killed 300 French Huguenots in 1565.
Fort Monroe National Monument, 2011, in Hampton, Virginia. Stone fort built in the early 19th century upon the remains of a 17th-century wooden fort. A moat surrounds it. Fort Monroe was decommissioned in 2011.
Fort Necessity National Battlefield, 1931, near Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The scene of the battle on July 3, 1754, between French troops assisted by Indians and colonial troops led by George Washington. This was the beginning of the French and Indian War.
Fort Point National Historic Site, 1970, in San Francisco, California. A classic brick and mortar coastal fort built in 1853–61 to protect San Francisco Bay.
Fort Pulaski National Monument, 1924, coast of Georgia. A fort on Cockspur Island in the mouth of the Savannah River, built from 1829 to 1847. During the Civil War, Union forces bombarded and seized it. It is one of the best preserved of the chain of brick forts erected for coastal defense in the early 1800s.
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, 1941, on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. The site of the first attempted English settlement in North America, in 1585–87.
Fort Scott National Historic Site, 1964, in and near Fort Scott, Kansas. Established in 1842, commemorates historic events that occurred in Kansas prior to and during the Civil War.
Fort Smith National Historic Site, 1961, western Arkansas. One of the first U.S. military posts in the Louisiana Territory. The site also preserves the restored courtroom of Judge Isaac C. Parker, known as a “hanging judge,” who successfully carried out the difficult task of enforcing federal law in the area from 1875 to 1896.
Fort Stanwix National Monument, 1935, in Rome, New York. The site of the American stand in August 1777 that helped repulse a British invasion from Canada through the Mohawk River valley during the Revolutionary War. Treaties with the Iroquois Confederacy were concluded there in 1768 and 1784.
Fort Sumter National Monument, 1948, near Charleston, South Carolina. A fort in Charleston Harbor, scene of the first battle of the Civil War.
Fort Union National Monument, 1954, near Las Vegas, New Mexico. A military post on the Santa Fe Trail, built in 1851.
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, 1966, North Dakota and Montana. The ruins of the principal fur-trading post in the upper Missouri River region from 1828 to 1867.
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, 1948, in Vancouver, Washington. The site of a fort that the Hudson’s Bay Company fur traders established in 1825. In 2003 the McLoughlin House in Oregon City, Oregon, was added as a unit of Fort Vancouver. It was the home of John McLoughlin, who helped establish the fort for the company before moving to Oregon.
Fossil Butte National Monument, 1972, southwestern Wyoming. An abundance of rare fish fossils, estimated at between 34 and 56 million years old.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, 1997, in Washington, D.C. Dedicated to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States.
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, 1962, in Washington, D.C. The home of Frederick Douglass from 1877 to 1895. Douglass, born a slave, became a leading black spokesperson and the United States minister to Haiti.
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, 1979, in Brookline, Massachusetts. The home and office of Frederick Law Olmsted, a conservationist, a landscape architect, and the founder of city planning.
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, 1927, Virginia. The scenes of major Civil War battles—Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House—between 1862 and 1864.
Friendship Hill National Historic Site, 1978, near Point Marion, Pennsylvania. A stone and brick home on the Monongahela River belonging to Albert Gallatin, secretary of the treasury under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, 1978, northern Alaska. Lies entirely north of the Arctic Circle and includes a portion of the Brooks Range, the northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains. It is one of the largest remaining wilderness areas in the world.
Gateway Arch National Park, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri; formerly the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. A site dedicated to the country’s westward advance and to the people and events connected with it. The stainless steel Gateway Arch, a St. Louis landmark since its completion in 1965, is 630 feet (192 meters) high.
Gateway National Recreation Area, 1972, near New York City. Three park units in the New York harbor area offering urban residents a variety of recreational opportunities.
Gauley River National Recreation Area, 1988, southern West Virginia. Preserves 25 miles (40 kilometers) of the Gauley River and 6 miles (10 kilometers) of the Meadow River.
George Washington Birthplace National Monument, 1930, eastern Virginia. A memorial mansion, known as Popes Creek Plantation or Wakefield, on the estate where George Washington was born. The house in which he was born was built sometime between 1723 and 1726. Washington lived in it only until he was 3 years old, but he often visited it during his childhood and after it became the property of his half brother Augustine. Fire destroyed the home in 1779.
George Washington Carver National Monument, 1943, near Diamond, Missouri. The birthplace and childhood home of the famous black scientist George Washington Carver.
George Washington Memorial Parkway, 1930, Virginia and Maryland. A road lined with many historical landmarks in the Washington, D.C., area.
Gettysburg National Military Park, 1895, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The scene of the battle marking the turning point of the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address, dedicated part of field as a burial ground.
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, 1907, southwestern New Mexico. The ruins of prehistoric Indian dwellings built into natural cavities in the face of a cliff.
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, 1925, southeastern Alaska. Tidewater glaciers amid magnificent mountain peaks. The park and preserve contains a wide variety of animals, including bears, mountain goats, whales, seals, and eagles.
Glacier National Park, 1910, northwestern Montana. Splendid mountains, in whose hollows lie glaciers and forest-rimmed lakes. The park straddles the Continental Divide, the great ridge of the Rocky Mountains marking the boundary between westward and eastward river drainage systems.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, 1972, Arizona and Utah. A dam 710 feet (216 meters) high on the Colorado River in Arizona. It forms Lake Powell, which straddles the Arizona-Utah border.
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church National Historic Site (nonfederal), 1942, in Philadelphia. The oldest church in Pennsylvania, built about 1700 for Swedish settlers.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, 1972, in and around San Francisco. Shoreline areas include ocean beaches, redwood forest, lagoons, and marshes. The area encompasses Alcatraz, several forts, and other scenic and cultural areas around the bay.
Golden Spike National Historic Site, 1957, at Promontory, Utah. The site of the completion of the country’s first transcontinental railroad. The Union Pacific from the East and the Central Pacific from the West met there on May 10, 1869.
Governors Island National Monument, 2001, in New York City. Preserves Fort Jay and Castle Williams on Governors Island, off the tip of Manhattan Island.
Grand Canyon National Park, 1919, northern Arizona. Encompasses the immense Grand Canyon, which the Colorado River carved. The forces of erosion have exposed an immense variety of formations that illustrate periods of geologic history. In 1975 the addition of the former Grand Canyon and Marble Canyon national monuments and portions of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, as well as other adjoining lands, greatly enlarged the national park.
Grand Portage National Monument, 1951, northeastern Minnesota. The 9-mile (14-kilometer) portage was a principal route of Native Americans, fur traders, missionaries, and explorers to the Northwest. The North West Company post has been reconstructed.
Grand Teton National Park, 1929, northwestern Wyoming. A range of granite peaks, springing a sheer 7,000 feet (2,130 meters) above the level floor of Jackson Hole. The absence of foothills greatly enhances the grandeur of the range. The Grand Teton rises 13,770 feet (4,198 meters).
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, 1972, western Montana. The home ranch area of one of the largest 19th-century range ranches in the United States.
Great Basin National Park, 1986, east-central Nevada. Located in the Great Basin, an area of mountains and valleys. The park includes Lehman Caves, the high limestone formations of Lexington Arch, Wheeler Peak, rugged terrain, and a great variety of wildlife.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, 1932, south-central Colorado. Wind-blown shifting mounds of sand in the San Luis Valley at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Rising in places to more than 750 feet (230 meters), they are among the largest dunes in the world. The winds drive the sands across the valley into a hook in the mountains, where they pile up in hills.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 1926, North Carolina and Tennessee. Encompasses the loftiest portion of the Great Smoky Mountains, with 16 peaks rising more than 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) high. The Great Smoky Mountains are the western segment of the high Appalachian Mountains.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, 1966, western Texas. Mountain mass rising from the surrounding desert. The park contains portions of the world’s most extensive Permian limestone fossil reef. The lofty peaks include Guadalupe Peak, at 8,749 feet (2,667 meters) the highest point in Texas.
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, 1917, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Commemorates the Revolutionary War battle between British and American forces on March 15, 1781.
Gulf Islands National Seashore, 1971, Gulf Coast of Florida and Mississippi. Barrier islands that include beaches, historic ruins, and wildlife areas.
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, 1988, southern Idaho. Preserves fossils from the Pliocene Epoch from about 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago. The site’s best-known fossil animal is the Hagerman horse (Equus simplicidens), which is recognized as the earliest known horse species.
Haleakala National Park, 1916, Hawaii, on the island of Maui. Includes the huge dormant volcano Haleakala (“House of the Sun”) and lush coastal areas.
Hamilton Grange National Memorial, 1962, in New York City. The home of Alexander Hamilton, first secretary of the treasury. His home was named after “The Grange,” his grandfather’s estate in Scotland.
Hampton National Historic Site, 1948, near Towson, Maryland. An 18th-century Georgian mansion.
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, 1944, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland. A scenic area and site of John Brown’s raid in 1859 and of several important military actions during the American Civil War (see Harpers Ferry).
Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, 2017, in Auburn, New York. Includes sites important in the life of Harriet Tubman.
Harry S. Truman National Historic Site, 1983, in Independence, Missouri. The home of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, from 1919 until his death in 1972. During his presidency (1945–53) Truman and his family would visit the home, and it became known as a “summer White House.”
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, 1965, in West Branch, Iowa. The birthplace, Friends Meetinghouse, boyhood home, and burial place of Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States. His presidential library and museum are also located there.
Hohokam Pima National Monument, 1972, south-central Arizona. The site of a Hohokam village inhabited from about 300 to 1200. The excavated ruins have been refilled to protect them.
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, 1944, in Hyde Park, New York. The birthplace and home of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. Called “Springwood,” it served as a “summer White House” where distinguished visitors were entertained.
Homestead National Monument of America, 1936, southeastern Nebraska. One of the first homesteads in the United States, entered by Daniel Freeman under the Homestead Act of 1862. The monument honors all homesteaders and commemorates the hardships of pioneer life.
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, 1923, south-central Ohio. Prehistoric Native American mounds, containing altars and human remains, built about 2,000 years ago.
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, 1938, near Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. A 19th-century iron-making village. It includes ruins of the old furnace.
Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, 1956, near Dadeville, Alabama. Commemorates the famous battle on March 27, 1814, in which General Andrew Jackson’s forces defeated a strong body of Creek Indians.
Hot Springs National Park, 1832, central Arkansas. Hot mineral springs used in the treatment of certain ailments and government-regulated bathhouses, in the city of Hot Springs.
Hovenweep National Monument, 1923, southern Utah and Colorado. Six groups of prehistoric towers, pueblos, and kivas (ceremonial structures) in the remote canyons and high on the cliffs and plateau. The Ancestral Pueblo people built them, mostly between ad 1200 and 1300.
Ice Age National Scientific Reserve (nonfederal), 1964, southwestern and central Wisconsin. Includes nine areas in Wisconsin that exemplify significant features of continental glaciation.
Independence National Historical Park, 1948, in Philadelphia. Historic buildings associated with the American Revolution and the founding and growth of the United States. It includes Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Liberty Bell Center, the First Bank of the United States, Carpenters’ Hall, and Franklin Court (the site of Benjamin Franklin’s home).
Isle Royale National Park, 1931, western Lake Superior. An island wilderness northwest of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan, which includes Isle Royale, the largest island in Lake Superior, and more than 450 smaller islands. The shoreline is steep and rocky, its cliffs broken by narrow coves and deep harbors. Rock ridges, from 300 to 800 feet (90 to 240 meters) high, stripe the island from northeast to southwest. In the valleys between lie many lakes. Forests harbor one of the largest moose herds in North America. Prehistoric Indians mined the copper of Isle Royale.
James A. Garfield National Historic Site, 1980, in Mentor, Ohio. A site dedicated to the memory of James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States.
Jamestown National Historic Site (nonfederal), 1940, at Jamestown, Virginia. Part of the Colonial National Historical Park (see above). Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America.
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, 1978, in and around New Orleans, Louisiana. Significant examples of natural and historical resources of the Mississippi delta.
Jewel Cave National Monument, 1908, southwestern South Dakota. Underground chambers and galleries encrusted with beautiful calcite crystals. Its narrow, interconnecting passages offer more than 180 miles (290 kilometers) of mapped routes.
Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, 1987, in Plains, Georgia. The boyhood home of Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, 1975, northeastern Oregon. Plant and animal fossils from five epochs—the Eocene to the end of the Pleistocene.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, 1972, northwestern Wyoming. A scenic 82-mile (132-kilometer) corridor between Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. The parkway commemorates the role of John D. Rockefeller and his family in establishing many parks.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site, 1967, in Brookline, Massachusetts. The birthplace and boyhood home, 1917–20, of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States.
Johnstown Flood National Memorial, 1964, at Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Memorializes the disastrous flood of 1889, which was caused by a break in the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River.
Joshua Tree National Park, 1936, southern California. A desert area at the foot of the Little San Bernardino Mountains. The park is noted for its variety of desert plant life, in particular the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia), a species of yucca.
Kalaupapa National Historical Park, 1980, Hawaii, on the island of Molokai. The site of a leprosy settlement from 1886 to 1969. Today the park includes historic areas, scenic and geologic resources, and habitats for rare and endangered species.
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, 2016, north-central Maine. Wilderness area, including mountains and forests.
Keweenaw National Historical Park, 1992, Keweenaw Peninsula, Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Sites related to copper mining in the area.
Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, 1978, Hawaii, on the island of Hawaii. The site of Hawaiian settlements before the arrival of European explorers. The park preserves the native culture of Hawaii.
Katmai National Park and Preserve, 1918, southern Alaska. A spectacular area of volcanic activity. It contains magnificent lakes, mountains, and abundant wildlife, including the Alaskan brown bear. The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes within the monument was created in 1912 by a fiery cloud of ash from Novarupta, now a crater at the valley head. Steam and other gases rose from the fumaroles in the valley floor, giving the destroyed valley its name. At the same time Novarupta depleted magma from Mount Katmai, nearly 6 miles (10 kilometers) away, causing it to sink by several hundred feet into a newly formed roughly 2,600-foot- (800-meter-) deep caldera.
Kenai Fjords National Park, 1978, near Seward, Alaska. Includes major ice caps in the United States, the Harding Icefield, and coastal fjords. A rich, varied rainforest is home to myriad species of birds. Whales, sea lions, sea otters, and seals thrive in the marine waters.
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 1917, near Marietta, Georgia. A Civil War site where General William Tecumseh Sherman made a heavy assault on Confederate positions during the Atlanta Campaign in 1864.
Kings Canyon National Park, 1940, east-central California. A glorious wilderness in the Sierra Nevada, adjoining Sequoia National Park. Kings Canyon is noted for the groves of giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum). The park features steep-walled, glacier-carved valleys. Flower-strewn meadows, lakes and rushing streams, and magnificent forests make this one of the most beautiful of all the scenic parks.
Kings Mountain National Military Park, 1931, near Blacksburg, South Carolina. The site of a critical victory of the American frontiersmen over the British in 1780.
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, 1976, in and around Skagway, Alaska, and Seattle, Washington. Commemorates the 1898 gold rush, featuring historic buildings and trails.
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, 1974, near Stanton, North Dakota. The remains of earth lodges of several Hidatsa villages, occupied from the 16th through 18th centuries.
Kobuk Valley National Park, 1978, northwestern Alaska. Embracing the central valley of the Kobuk River, north of the Arctic Circle. The park preserves biological, geologic, and cultural resources.
Korean War Veterans Memorial, 1986, in Washington, D.C. A memorial to the Americans who fought in the Korean War. Stainless-steel figures of soldiers stand on a triangular piece of grass, with a black granite wall on one side that has pictures from the war engraved on it. A Pool of Remembrance encompasses one of the triangle’s points.
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, 1968, north-central Washington. Adjoins the southeastern boundary of North Cascades National Park and includes the northern portion of Lake Chelan.
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, 1978, southern Alaska. A rugged wilderness area in the heart of the Chigmit Mountains. The park and preserve contains great geologic diversity, including jagged peaks and active volcanoes.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 1936, Arizona and Nevada. A brilliant setting for water sports provided by Lake Mead, created by Hoover Dam, and Lake Mohave, created by Davis Dam. It is a popular fishing area.
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, 1965, northern Texas. Man-made Lake Meredith on the Canadian River, in the arid plains of the Texas Panhandle. The area is a popular water-activity center.
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, 1946, northeastern Washington. A lake formed by Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River and the surrounding recreation area, named for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Lassen Volcanic National Park, 1916, northern California. A region of volcanic activity. Lassen Peak, at the southern end of the Cascade Range, erupted several times between 1914 and 1921. In the park are many other peaks and cinder cones, lava fields, hot springs, fumaroles, lakes, and other evidence of volcanic activity.
Lava Beds National Monument, 1925, northern California. A region of lava flows and related volcanic formations. Attractions include lava tube caves, Modoc and Klamath cultural sites, and a wilderness area featuring grasslands, sagebrush, juniper, and ponderosa pine.
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, 1958, northwestern Oregon and southwestern Washington. Sites related to the 1804–06 Lewis and Clark Expedition, centering on the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. A replica of Fort Clatsop, where Meriwether Lewis and William Clark wintered in 1805–06, is a main attraction.
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, 1962, in Lincoln City, Indiana. The farm on which Abraham Lincoln grew from youth into adulthood.
Lincoln Home National Historic Site, 1971, in Springfield, Illinois. The home that Abraham Lincoln left when he traveled to Washington, D.C., to accept the presidency in 1861.
Lincoln Memorial, 1911, in Washington, D.C. A classic structure with a 19-foot- (6-meter-) high white marble statue of Abraham Lincoln.
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, 1879, southern Montana. The site of the 1876 massacre of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his men by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians led by Sitting Bull.
Little River Canyon National Preserve, 1992, northeastern Alabama. Protects the Little River and the surrounding area on top of Lookout Mountain in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Other natural features in the preserve include forests, waterfalls, canyons, and bluffs.
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, 1998, in Little Rock, Arkansas. The public high school where the Little Rock Nine, a group of African American students, enrolled in 1957 after the United States Supreme Court decided in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregated schooling was unconstitutional. The school is still in operation.
Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site, 1972, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The house of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow from 1837 to 1882 while he taught at Harvard University. Before that it held historical significance as George Washington’s headquarters (July 1775–April 1776).
Lowell National Historical Park, 1978, in Lowell, Massachusetts. Commemorates the first planned industrial community in the United States, with museums and exhibits.
Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac, 1973, in Washington, D.C. A memorial to Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States. It consists of a meadow and grove of white trees, with a large megalith.
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, 1969, central Texas. The birthplace, boyhood home, and ranch of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States.
Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, 1978, in Richmond, Virginia. The home of Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a former slave. Walker was the first woman to establish and become president of an American financial institution.
Mammoth Cave National Park, 1926, Kentucky. Large caves in the wooded hill country of Kentucky, in the Green River valley. More than 400 miles (645 kilometers) of the limestone caverns have been explored. The ghostly underground lakes and streams and the vast chambers with their massive stalactites and stalagmites attract thousands of visitors.
Manassas National Battlefield Park, 1940, in Manassas, Virginia. The scene of the first and second battles of Bull Run (Manassas), on July 21, 1861, and August 29–30, 1862. First Bull Run was the first major battle of the Civil War. It was there that Thomas Jackson acquired the nickname “Stonewall.”
Manhattan Project National Historical Park, 2015, New Mexico, Washington, and Tennessee. Sites detailing the history of the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb.
Manzanar National Historic Site, 1992, California. An internment camp where people of Japanese ancestry were forced to stay during World War II. Two restored barracks and a mess hall contain exhibits.
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, 1992, east-central Vermont. A forest area including pine, spruce, and sugar maple.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial, 2011, in Washington, D.C. A large sculpture of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., set against a mountain. Several of King’s quotations are engraved on the memorial.
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, 1974, near Albany, New York. The home of Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States, for the last 21 years of his life.
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, 1991, in Washington, D.C. The home of African American educator Mary McLeod Bethune and the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women.
Mesa Verde National Park, 1906, southwestern Colorado. The largest and best-preserved prehistoric cliff dwellings and pueblos in the United States. Basketmaker peoples occupied Mesa Verde (Spanish: “green table”) beginning about ad 550. Traces of their earth lodges built on the mesa top remain. The more highly developed Ancestral Pueblo peoples built the cliff houses between 1150 and 1200.
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, 1999, southwestern South Dakota. Preserves two missile launch control facilities in operation from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Minute Man National Historical Park, 1959, in Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord, Massachusetts. Historic structures associated with the beginning of the Revolutionary War (see Battles of Lexington and Concord).
Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, 1988, Minnesota. A scenic area along 72 miles (116 kilometers) of the Mississippi River, including through Minneapolis and St. Paul. Cultural and historic sites are scattered along the river.
Mojave National Preserve, 1994, southeastern California. A wilderness area in the Mojave Desert. The rugged terrain includes mountains, canyons, mesas, and volcanic cinder cones.
Monocacy National Battlefield, 1934, Maryland. Commemorates a Civil War battle fought on July 9, 1864, in which Confederate forces defeated Union troops.
Montezuma Castle National Monument, 1906, central Arizona. A five-story cliff dwelling of mud and stone built into a natural cave in the face of a cliff, some 80 feet (24 meters) high. The prehistoric Sinagua people lived at the structure from about 1100 to 1400.
Moores Creek National Battlefield, 1926, near Currie, North Carolina. The scene of a battle on February 27, 1776, in which the North Carolina Patriots defeated the Loyalist forces, advancing the Revolutionary cause in the South.
Morristown National Historical Park, 1933, northern New Jersey. A strategic point during the American Revolution. It was only a two-day march from British lines in present-day New York City, and it was situated in a highly defensible location. In addition, it served as a military supply depot. Throughout the war American troops were stationed there. Among the site’s attractions is the restored Ford Mansion. General George Washington and his wife occupied it from December 1779 to June 1780.
Mount Rainier National Park, 1899, west-central Washington. A dormant volcano in the Cascade Range, with a snowy cone 14,410 feet (4,392 meters) high. From its summit, glaciers spread down the slopes. Subalpine and alpine meadows produce abundant wildflowers. Forests teeming with wildlife cover the lower elevations.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, 1925, near Keystone, South Dakota. The heads of four presidents—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt—carved on the face of Mount Rushmore. The heads are each about 60 feet (18 meters) high.
Muir Woods National Monument, 1908, northwestern California. A grove of redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens) at the foot of Mount Tamalpais, near San Francisco. It is named for John Muir, the naturalist and writer, an outstanding campaigner for national parks and forests. The monument is administered as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (see above).
Natchez National Historical Park, 1988, in Natchez, Mississippi. Preserves the sites of importance in the history and culture of the people in and around Natchez, Mississippi.
Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail, 1983, Tennessee and Mississippi. A series of five hiking trails parallel to portions of the Natchez Trace Parkway, a scenic and historic roadway. The combined foot trails are approximately 60 miles (97 kilometers) long.
Natchez Trace Parkway, 1934, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. Follows Old Natchez Trace—a historic route that Native Americans and early settlers used—between Nashville, Tennessee, and Natchez, Mississippi.
National Capital Parks–East, 1790, District of Columbia and Maryland. Park system of the United States capital, covering historic, cultural, and recreational sites. Some of the locations are Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (see above), Piscataway Park, and Harmony Hall.
National Park of American Samoa, 1988, American Samoa. Park area on three islands—Tutuila, Tau, and Ofu—in American Samoa. Located in the south-central Pacific Ocean, the islands are covered with forested, mountainous terrain. The park includes offshore coral reefs and the surrounding marine environment.
National World War II Memorial, 2004, in Washington, D.C. A World War II memorial featuring 56 granite pillars—representing the U.S. states and territories in 1946—surrounding a reflecting pool. A Freedom Wall features 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 military personnel who died during the war. At the entrance to the memorial are 24 bronze panels with bas-relief images from the war.
Natural Bridges National Monument, 1908, southeastern Utah. Three natural sandstone bridges of great size and beauty, near the head of White Canyon. The largest is the Sipapu, or Augusta, 220 feet (67 meters) above the stream. It has a span of 268 feet (82 meters) long and is 53 feet (16 meters) thick at the top of the arch. The Kachina, or Caroline, Bridge and the Owachomo, or Edwin, Bridge are 210 feet (64 meters) and 106 feet (32 meters) high, respectively. The three bridges were formed by a meandering river. Such a river wears away the inner side of the loops in its twisting course. Eventually it cuts through the neck of a loop and abandons the old course. In this region a hard layer of cap rock resists erosion while the softer layers beneath are washed away. The cap becomes a bridge beneath which the river flows in its newly deepened channel. In the vicinity are ruins of Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings. (See also Rainbow Bridge National Monument below.)
Navajo National Monument, 1909, northeastern Arizona. Three cliff-dwelling ruins—Betatakin, Keet Seel, and Inscription House—in caves high on the canyon walls of the Tsegi Canyon region of Arizona. Built by Ancestral Pueblo people, these dwellings date from 1250 to 1300. They once contained from 75 to 160 rooms each.
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, 1996, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Historic buildings in the seafaring community.
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 1994, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sites important in the history of jazz in the city. A walking tour includes numerous theaters, hotels, and restaurants in several neighborhoods.
New River Gorge National River, 1978, central West Virginia. A scenic area encompassing 53 miles (85 kilometers) of the rugged New River as it carves the canyons of the Appalachian Mountains.
Nez Percé National Historical Park, 1965, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Preserves, commemorates, and interprets the history and culture of the Nez Percé among various scattered sites.
Nicodemus National Historic Site, 1996, in Nicodemus, Kansas. Five historic buildings (two churches, a town hall, a hotel, and a school) in one of the oldest African American towns.
Ninety Six National Historic Site, 1976, western South Carolina. A backcountry trading village and American Revolution battleground with earthwork embankments of a 1780 fortification and other historic sites.
Noatak National Preserve, 1978, northwestern Alaska. Protects the Noatak River and its basin in the Brooks Range. Arctic wildlife, including reindeer (caribou), brown bears, wolves, and lynx, abound in the preserve.
North Cascades National Park, 1968, northern Washington. Encompasses a magnificent array of alpine scenery. Deep canyons, active glaciers, jagged peaks, mountain lakes, and plant communities characterize the portion of the Cascade Range that lies within the boundary of the park.
Ocmulgee National Monument, 1934, central Georgia. A village site containing earthwork structures built by farming peoples of the Mississippian culture. The site is divided into two separated areas. It includes an elaborate fortification system, a ceremonial earth lodge, and burial mounds. In addition to the Mississippian structures, the site preserves artifacts and other evidence of human habitation dating from 10,000 bc to about ad 1715.
Olympic National Park, 1909, northwestern Washington. Ecologically diverse area covering most of the Olympic Peninsula. Along the coast a primeval rainforest includes Douglas firs, Sitka spruces, western red cedars, and western hemlocks, some hundreds of years old. Alpine meadows studded with lakes fill the colder mountain heights. Above them loom the snowy, glacier-scoured peaks dominated by Mount Olympus. Wildlife abounds in the park.
Oregon Caves National Monument, 1909, southwestern Oregon. Miles of underground chambers in the Siskiyou Mountains, containing lime deposits that have assumed fantastic shapes.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 1937, Arizona. A sun-scorched, waterless desert on the Mexican border, famous for its rare organ-pipe cactus. In the United States the cactus grows in large stands only in south-central Arizona. The tubular arms of the plant rise candelabra-like and resemble the pipes of an organ. Desert ironwood and many other unusual plants also flourish there. Among the wildlife species are the desert bighorn sheep and the Gila monster.
Ozark National Scenic Riverways, 1964, southeastern Missouri. Outstanding portions of the free-flowing Current and Jacks Fork rivers, together with significant caves and springs.
Padre Island National Seashore, 1962, southern Texas. A 70-mile (113-kilometer) stretch of barrier island along the Gulf Coast south of Corpus Christi. The area is noted for its wide sand beaches, excellent fishing, and abundant bird and marine life.
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, 2011, in Paterson, New Jersey. A waterfall on the Passaic River and historic buildings symbolizing the city’s industrial endeavors.
Pecos National Historical Park, 1965, near Santa Fe, New Mexico. The ruins of a 17th-century mission and a 14th-century pueblo, which the Pueblo Indians built and inhabited. The park also includes a Civil War battlefield.
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site, 1965, Washington, D.C. Sites surrounding Pennsylvania Avenue, including Pershing Park, Freedom Plaza, and the Old Post Office Tower.
Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, 1936, Ohio, in Lake Erie. A massive Doric column constructed in 1912–15 to commemorate Oliver Hazard Perry’s victory over the British fleet near Put-in-Bay in 1813 and the ensuing peace between Canada, Great Britain, and the United States.
Petersburg National Battlefield, 1926, near Petersburg, Virginia. Various sites related to the Union siege (1864–65) of Confederate-held Petersburg during the Civil War. The more than nine-month siege was the longest in United States history.
Petrified Forest National Park, 1906, eastern Arizona. Forests of petrified wood, strewn with sections of tree trunks. There are no standing trees and only a few upright stumps and roots. Throughout the park are ruins of Ancestral Pueblo dwellings. with petroglyphs carved on the cliffs. The park also includes the most spectacular parts of the colorful Painted Desert. It is an area of brilliantly colored rocks, carved by erosion into cliffs, mesas, and deep canyons.
Petroglyph National Monument, 1990, near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The site of Native American (Ancestral Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo) petroglyphs carved 300 to 700 years ago. Spanish explorers also carved some petroglyphs there about 200 to 300 years ago.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, 1966, Michigan. A scenic area on Lake Superior with multicolored sandstone cliffs, beaches, sandbars and dunes, waterfalls, inland lakes, ponds, marshes, hardwood and evergreen forests, and numerous birds and animals.
Pinnacles National Park, 1908, west-central California. Spirelike rock formations rising from 500 to 1,200 feet (150 to 365 meters) above the floors of several canyons, eroded in a volcanic ridge. There are numerous caves and volcanic features.
Pipe Spring National Monument, 1923, northwestern Arizona. The site of a spring of cold, pure water famous in Utah and Arizona history. Originally used by Native Americans, the spring lured Mormons to the area in the 1860s to start a cattle ranch. Soon after they built a stone fort around the spring. The large spring in this desert country is due to a break, or fault, in Earth’s crust. Underground waters draining from the higher plateaus to the north find their way to the surface through this crack.
Pipestone National Monument, 1937, southwestern Minnesota. Quarries of red stone from which generations of Native Americans made their ceremonial pipes. Within the monument also are three granite boulders, known as the Three Maidens, at which many ceremonials were held. The region was considered a sanctuary for all tribes. Quarrying is reserved exclusively for Native Americans.
Point Reyes National Seashore, 1962, northern California. A peninsula north of San Francisco noted for its long beaches backed by tall cliffs, lagoons, and estuaries; its forested ridges; and its offshore bird and seal and sea lion colonies.
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, 2009, west-central California. Honors the 320 lives lost during a July 17, 1944, naval explosion in the California port while two ships were being loaded with explosives. It was the worst disaster in the United States during World War II.
Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, 1983, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Connects several trails beginning at the mouth of the Potomac, through the District of Columbia, and northward to southwestern Pennsylvania. Besides the changing river scenery, the trails provide access to various historic sites.
Poverty Point National Monument, 1988, northeastern Louisiana. An archaeological site containing prehistoric earthen mounds built from about 1650 to 700 bc.
President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site, 2010, in Hope, Arkansas. The birthplace of Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States.
Prince William Forest Park, 1936, near Triangle, Virginia. A woodland area with streams scattered throughout.
Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, 1955, western coast of the island of Hawaii. Commemorates a walled sanctuary set aside by ancient Hawaiians for taboo breakers and defeated warriors. The ruins include the great wall and restored temples.
Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, 1972, Kawaihae, Hawaii. The ruins of the “Temple on the Hill of the Whale,” built by King Kamehameha the Great during his rise to power.
Rainbow Bridge National Monument, 1910, southern Utah. One of the largest known natural bridges in the world. It lies in what was until recently one of the most inaccessible regions in the United States. The bridge is a symmetrical arch of salmon-pink sandstone, 290 feet (88 meters) high and 275 feet (84 meters) from pier to pier. It has a curved top, like the arch of the rainbow. Native Americans regard the bridge as a sacred religious site. (See also Natural Bridges National Monument above.)
Redwood National Park, 1968, northwestern California. Contains the Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast, and Prairie Creek Redwoods state parks; lands in the drainage areas of Mill, Prairie, Lost Man, and Redwood creeks; and about 40 miles (64 kilometers) of scenic Pacific coastline. The park is known for virgin (old-growth) redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), which are among the longest-lived and tallest species on earth.
River Raisin National Battlefield Park, 2010, southeastern Michigan. Commemorates battles in the War of 1812 near the Raisin River.
Rocky Mountain National Park, 1915, north-central Colorado. Part of the majestic Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Within the park boundaries dozens of peaks rise more than 12,000 feet (3,660 meters), dominated by Longs Peak, at 14,259 feet (4,346 meters) high. Straddling the Continental Divide, the park is noted for its flowery valleys, countless streams and forest-rimmed lakes, and the Never Summer Mountains.
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, 2000, in Richmond, California. Commemorates women working in the defense industry during World War II as well as the struggle for women’s rights.
Ross Lake National Recreation Area, 1968, north-central Washington. Fjordlike lakes and surrounding lands adjoin and bisect North Cascades National Park (see above).
Russell Cave National Monument, 1961, near Bridgeport, Alabama. A cave system and archaeological site, with evidence of human habitation as far back as 10,000 bc.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, 1962, in Oyster Bay, New York. The home of Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death.
Saguaro National Park, 1933, southeastern Arizona. The home of the giant saguaro cactus, preserved near Tucson. Some of the plants are 50 feet (15 meters) high and live for 150 to 200 years. Other plants include paloverde and ocotillo.
Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, 1949, near Calais, Maine. Commemorates the French settlement in 1604 on the Canadian border.
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, 1964, near Windsor, New Hampshire. A memorial to the American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The site includes his home, studios, and gardens.
Saint Paul’s Church National Historic Site, 1943, in Mount Vernon, New York. A colonial church, significant because of its connection with events leading to John Peter Zenger’s “freedom of the press” trial in 1735 (see newspaper).
Salem Maritime National Historic Site, 1938, in Salem, Massachusetts. New England’s maritime, architectural, and literary history commemorated by Derby Wharf, the Derby House, Hawkes House, and the Custom House in which American author Nathaniel Hawthorne worked.
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, 1909, central New Mexico. Three sites of 17th-century Spanish missions built by the Franciscans. The largest site, the Gran Quivira unit, has excavated Ancestral Pueblo ruins dating from 1300 to 1600.
Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, 1992, north-central St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. Preserves the Salt River and Caribbean Sea marine environments as well as several historic forts and villages.
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, 1978, in San Antonio, Texas. Four frontier Spanish missions, established in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, 2007, eastern Colorado. The site of the Sand Creek Massacre.
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, 1988, in San Francisco. Ships and a museum dedicated to the maritime history of the Pacific Coast.
San Juan Island National Historical Park, 1966, northwestern Washington. Commemorates the peaceful relationship between the United States, Great Britain, and Canada since the 1872 boundary dispute there. An English campsite is at the northern end of the island, and an American campsite is at the southern end.
San Juan National Historic Site, 1949, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Massive masonry fortifications, built by the Spanish in the 16th century.
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, 1978, near Los Angeles, California. A large, rugged landscape turned into a park on the sandy beaches north of Los Angeles.
Saratoga National Historical Park, 1938, near Stillwater, New York. The site of British General John Burgoyne’s surrender to colonial General Horatio Gates in 1777, regarded as the turning point in the American Revolution.
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, 1968, in Saugus, Massachusetts. A reconstruction on the archaeologically excavated foundation of the major portion of America’s first integrated ironworks. The original ironworks was in operation in the mid-17th century. (See also iron and steel industry.)
Scotts Bluff National Monument, 1919, western Nebraska. Famous landmark on the Oregon Trail. The bluff rises about 800 feet (240 meters) above the North Platte River. The Pony Express, the first stage lines, and the first transcontinental telegraph company crossed Mitchell Pass at the foot of the bluff.
Sequoia National Park, 1890, east-central California. Forests of giant sequoias on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. One of the largest and oldest living things in the world is the General Sherman Tree. The tree is 274.9 feet (83.8 meters) high, 36.5 feet (11.1 meters) in diameter, and between 2,300 and 2,700 years old. Kings Canyon National Park adjoins Sequoia on the north.
Shenandoah National Park, 1926, northern Virginia. The crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, extending from the area of Front Royal on the north to Rockfish Gap, near Waynesboro, on the south. Between the ridges lie narrow valleys with rushing streams and waterfalls. Beautiful hardwood forests cover hill and valley. From spring to autumn a succession of brilliant wildflowers bloom. The park is most noted for the views from Skyline Drive. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail passes through the park.
Shiloh National Military Park, 1894, near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. Site of the 1862 Battle of Shiloh, the second great engagement of the Civil War. The park also contains a separate unit in Corinth, Mississippi, that commemorates the battle that took place there.
Sitka National Historical Park, 1910, on Baranof Island, in southeastern Alaska. The site of an ancient village of Tlingit Indians. Russians forced them out in 1804. A collection of totem poles is of special interest.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 1970, western Michigan. One of the world’s largest complexes of shifting dunes. Beaches, massive sand dunes, forests, and lakes are the outstanding characteristics of the Lake Michigan shoreline and two offshore islands.
Springfield Armory National Historic Site, 1974, in Springfield, Massachusetts. A large weapons museum housed in the original arsenal building that manufactured United States military small arms from 1794 to 1968.
Statue of Liberty National Monument, 1924, New York Harbor, New York. Site of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island. The American Museum of Immigration is located in its base. The monument also contains Ellis Island, the entry port for more than 12 million immigrants to the United States from 1892 to 1954.
Steamtown National Historic Site, 1986, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Preserves the history of steam locomotives.
Stones River National Battlefield, 1927, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Commemorates the Civil War battle in 1862–63 over control of eastern Tennessee.
Stonewall National Monument, 2016, in New York City. The site of the Stonewall riots in 1969. The area commemorates the fight for gay and lesbian rights.
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, 1930, north-central Arizona. Two extinct volcanoes and the surrounding area. Sunset Crater is rimmed with bright yellow sulfur, shading down into bands of orange, red, and finally black volcanic ash, giving it the appearance of a sunset glow. The cone apparently began forming after an eruption that occurred in the late 11th century. Cinder cones, lava flows, and lava beds with ice caves mark the region.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, 1996, east-central Kansas. Preserves one of the few remaining tallgrass prairies in the United States.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, 1962, in New York City. The birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States.
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, 1966, in Buffalo, New York. The Ansley Wilcox House, where Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as president after the assassination in 1901 of President William McKinley.
Theodore Roosevelt Island, 1932, in Washington, D.C. A memorial to Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. Located in the Potomac River, the forested island has swamps and marshland.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, 1947, near Medora, North Dakota. Includes two major units of the park in the Badlands along the Little Missouri River. A smaller unit consists of part of Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch.
Thomas Edison National Historical Park, 1955, in West Orange, New Jersey. Buildings related to Thomas A. Edison, including Glenmont, his 29-room home. It is furnished as it was when he and his family lived in it and contains numerous gifts and souvenirs presented to the inventor. Also of interest is the laboratory group of buildings in which Edison and his coworkers carried on their work for 44 years. Early models of his inventions are on display.
Thomas Jefferson Memorial, 1934, in Washington, D.C. A circular colonnaded structure in classic style. On the interior walls are panels with inscriptions based upon the writings of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.
Timpanogos Cave National Monument, 1922, north-central Utah. Three limestone caverns on the northern slope of Mount Timpanogos in the Wasatch Range. A steep trail up the wall of American Fork Canyon leads to them. The caves were washed out by American Fork Creek along the lines of a fault, or breakage, in the mountain that, according to geologists, occurred some 50 million years ago. The stream helped carve out the caves and continues to carve out the canyon that lies below.
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, 1988, northeastern Florida. Protects salt marshes and coastal dunes. The preserve includes Fort Caroline, one of the first French settlements in the New World, and the Kingsley Plantation.
Tonto National Monument, 1907, southeastern Arizona. Two dwellings built into caves in the face of a cliff in the 14th century but showing signs of recent Native American occupancy. The structures were made with native quartzite laid with mud mortar.
Touro Synagogue National Historic Site (nonfederal), 1946, in Newport, Rhode Island. The oldest synagogue in the United States, built from 1759 to 1763. The building is a fine example of colonial religious architecture.
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, 2014, near Las Vegas, Nevada. A paleontological site preserving fossils, some of which date back 200,000 years.
Tumacacori National Historical Park, 1908, southern Arizona. The Spanish mission of San José de Tumacacori (originally San Cayetano de Tumacacori), founded by Father Eusebio Kino, a Jesuit missionary, in 1691. The mission was moved to the present site about 1751, and the Franciscans took it over in 1768. The present enlarged structure was completed in the 1820s. Soon afterward, when the Franciscans were expelled from Mexico, it was abandoned.
Tupelo National Battlefield, 1929, in Tupelo, Mississippi. Commemorates the Civil War Battle of Tupelo on July 14–15, 1864.
Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, 1974, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Historic buildings of the college for African Americans that Booker T. Washington founded in 1881. Also included at the site is the George Washington Carver Museum.
Tuzigoot National Monument, 1939, central Arizona. An ancient pueblo on a ridge above the Verde River, occupied from about 1100 to 1400 by the prehistoric Sinagua people. Only ruins remain, although they were partially restored. From the floors of the rooms and from numerous graves, scientists have recovered pottery; bone, horn, and stone implements; basketry; matting; and jewelry.
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, 1989, near St. Louis, Missouri. The family home of Julia Dent Grant. Ulysses S. Grant, the future commander of the Union armies during the Civil War and 18th president of the United States, and Julia lived there from 1854 to 1859.
Valles Caldera National Preserve, 2014, north-central New Mexico. A volcanic caldera some 13 miles (21 kilometers) wide in the Jemez Mountains. A river crosses the mountain meadows in the preserve. A large herd of elk roam throughout the area.
Valley Forge National Historical Park, 1976, southeastern Pennsylvania. The site of the Continental Army’s winter encampment, 1777–78. The area includes General George Washington’s headquarters, re-creations of log buildings, and monuments and markers (see American Revolution; Valley Forge).
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, 1940, in Hyde Park, New York. A palatial residence built in the 1890s for Frederick W. Vanderbilt, a grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Vicksburg National Military Park, 1899, adjacent to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Preserved fortifications of the siege of Vicksburg in 1863 during the Civil War. The park includes remains of trenches, cannon emplacements, and monuments and markers. Victory gave the North control of the Mississippi River and cut the Confederacy in two.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1980, in Washington, D.C. A polished black granite wall inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died or remain missing in the Vietnam War. A statue of three Vietnam servicemen stands in the entrance plaza.
Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, 2001, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Preserves the coral reefs and marine environment off the island’s northeastern and southern coasts.
Virgin Islands National Park, 1956, most of the island of St. John and adjacent rocks and keys in the U.S. Virgin Islands. White-sand beaches and tropical climate and plant life of a Caribbean island. Sugar plantation ruins are scattered throughout St. John.
Voyageurs National Park, 1971, International Falls, Minnesota. Interconnected northern lakes, once the route of the French-Canadian explorers, surrounded by forest. It is both a summer and a winter recreation area.
Waco Mammoth National Monument, 2015, in Waco, Texas. A paleontological site featuring Columbian mammoth fossils from about 67,000 years ago.
Walnut Canyon National Monument, 1915, north-central Arizona. Contains small prehistoric dwellings built under the overhanging walls of Walnut Canyon. The Sinagua people who lived there from about 1100 to about 1250 farmed the mesa tops. The overhang sheltered their homes and made enemy attacks difficult. There was also plenty of fuel and water.
Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, 1996, near Cheyenne, Oklahoma. The site where 7th Cavalry troops under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer surprised and destroyed the Southern Cheyenne chief Black Kettle’s village on the Washita River on November 27, 1868.
Weir Farm National Historic Site, 1990, near Wilton, Connecticut. The home of Impressionist painter J. Alden Weir from 1882 until his death in 1919.
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, 1965, northern California. A large reservoir with mountainous backcountry. It is administered by the National Park Service and other federal units. The nearby Shasta and Trinity-Lewiston units, which also have large lakes, are administered by the United States Forest Service.
White Sands National Monument, 1933, south-central New Mexico. Dazzling snow-white gypsum crystals, piled by the wind into huge dunes up to 60 feet (18 meters) high resembling snowdrifts. Gypsum is washed down from the mountains onto alkali flats, where the crystals are deposited by evaporation of the water. Most of the area is without plant life, yet a few plants have been able to adapt themselves to the environment. Some of them have stems more than 30 feet (9 meters) long. Animals have also adapted themselves to the surroundings. The desert mice and lizards, for example, have white coats that blend with the white sands.
Whitman Mission National Historic Site, 1936, near Walla Walla, Washington. The site of an Indian mission and school that Marcus Whitman and his wife established in 1836.
William Howard Taft National Historic Site, 1969, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The birthplace and boyhood home of William Howard Taft, the 27th president of the United States and chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, 1960, near Republic, Missouri. The site of an early Civil War battle, fought on August 10, 1861, for control of Missouri.
Wind Cave National Park, 1903, southwestern South Dakota. A large cavern in the Black Hills, notable for its unique formations of the mineral calcite. The formations called boxwork are composed of delicately colored crystals in a honeycomb pattern, deposited by evaporating water along countless cracks in the cave walls and roofs. The cave system also has calcite deposits that look like frost and like popcorn. Strong currents of air blowing into or out of the cavern’s mouth suggested its name. Changes in the atmospheric pressure outside cause the winds. The park, a wildlife sanctuary, harbors bison, elk, deer, and prairie dogs.
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, 1966, near Arlington, Virginia. The first national park for the performing arts. The site offers theater and lawn seating.
Women’s Rights National Historical Park, 1980, in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, New York. Commemorates the beginning of the movement for equal rights for women in the United States. Attractions include the site of the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention and the homes and offices of notable activists (see feminism; woman suffrage).
World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, 1980, Honolulu, Hawaii. A floating memorial marking the spot where the USS Arizona was sunk in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack that drew the United States into World War II. The monument also encompasses other sites, including memorials for two other ships sunk that day, the USS Utah and the USS Oklahoma.
Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, 1978, southeastern Alaska. The Chugach, Wrangell, and St. Elias ranges converge in the largest unit of the National Park System. The park includes the continent’s largest assemblage of glaciers and peaks above 16,000 feet (4,800 meters), including Mount St. Elias at 18,008 feet (5,489 meters) tall.
Wright Brothers National Memorial, 1927, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. The site of the famous flight made by Wilbur and Orville Wright on December 17, 1903.
Wupatki National Monument, 1924, north-central Arizona. Ruins, mostly of the Ancestral Pueblo people, overlooking the Painted Desert. The Ancestral Pueblo occupied the pueblos from about the 11th century to the 13th century.
Yellowstone National Park, 1872, northwestern Wyoming and parts of Montana and Idaho. A volcanic region famous for its geysers (especially Old Faithful), hot springs, boiling clay pools, and steaming rivers. Yellowstone was established as the world’s first national park. In 1959 an earthquake shook the area, causing significant changes in many of the natural wonders. Multiple wildfires in the summer of 1988 swept through about one-third of the park, causing extensive damage.
Yosemite National Park, 1890, east-central California. A scenic wilderness region in the heart of the Sierra Nevada. The area has many falls and canyons, forests and meadows, and groves filled with giant sequoias. The animal life is abundant and includes large mammals such as mule deer, bighorn sheep, pumas, and black bears as well as numerous species of birds and reptiles.
Yucca House National Monument, 1919, southwestern Colorado. A large archaeological site containing unexcavated ruins of the Ancestral Pueblo people. They lived there between 1150 and 1300.
Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, 1978, east-central Alaska. Encompasses a large portion of the Yukon and Charley river basins. The area contains numerous cabins and other relics of the 1890s Klondike gold rush as well as archaeological sites. Plant life consists mainly of tundra vegetation. Wildlife includes peregrine falcons, reindeer (caribou), moose, Dall sheep, brown bears, and wolves.
Zion National Park, 1909, southwestern Utah. An area of deep canyons, high cliffs, mesas, and forested plateaus. The main attraction is colorful Zion Canyon, which was formed as the Virgin River carved through the sedimentary rock. The park has several vegetation zones, including cacti in the desert areas, cottonwood and willows by the water, and juniper and pine trees in higher elevations. Many species of birds and reptiles are present.
Many other areas owned by the U.S. federal government provide recreation. Over 170 national forests and grasslands, totaling more than 300,000 square miles (780,000 square kilometers), are administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service, which was created in 1905, is administered under the Department of Agriculture.
The national forests, which cover more than twice as much land as the combined areas of the national parks, were originally set aside by the government to protect the country’s timber and water resources. Today most of the forests and grasslands of the United States are handled under a multiple-use plan. Through this plan, lumbering, livestock grazing, mining, watershed protection, and fishing, hunting, and many other sports activities can take place at the same time.
The first U.S. national wilderness area was set aside in 1924 in Gila National Forest in New Mexico. The 1964 Wilderness Act established the National Wilderness Preservation System to further protect these lands. The act also clarified the definition of wilderness as “an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence without permanent improvements or human habitation.” Today there are more than 750 such areas, totaling about 172,000 square miles (445,000 square kilometers). About half of the designated wilderness land is in Alaska. Only Congress has the authority to establish new areas.
Congress has assigned four federal agencies to oversee the wilderness areas. These are the United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service.
Federal, state, and local governments may establish Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to help protect such marine environments as ocean waters, coastal areas, estuaries, and the Great Lakes. Within the MPAs are different levels of protection. Some MPAs allow people to use the environment for recreation, such as by snorkeling. Others are highly restrictive, such as “no-take” MPAs (also known as marine reserves). These prevent people from commercially or recreationally removing marine life from the habitat or altering the habitat.
The largest MPA in the United States is the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. It encompasses about 580,000 square miles (1,502,000 square kilometers) of ocean surrounding several of the small Hawaiian Islands to the northwest of Kauai. President George W. Bush established Papahanaumokuakea in 2006.
State governments also oversee specific areas that have been set aside for the enjoyment of the public. For example, each state in the United States has multiple state parks. These include Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Hyde Memorial State Park in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico, and Gulf State Park on the coast of Alabama. In addition, many states have state forests, and some have designated natural areas, wildlife management areas, fish hatcheries, and preserves or reserves. Each state establishes its own set of rules and regulations as to the use of the area. Some are almost entirely devoted to recreational use and provide camping, fishing, swimming, and playground facilities. Other areas are excellent hunting grounds. Most of them, however, are put to multiple uses in the same manner as their national counterparts.
There are many county and municipal parks on the fringes of large cities. The Forest Preserves of Cook County, for example, provide Chicago with more than 100 square miles (260 square kilometers) of recreation area. The Westchester County park system near New York City offers more than 50 parks and recreational areas, including golf courses, beaches, and nature centers. Denver, Colorado, has a unique mountain parks system just outside the city.
Grogg, Bob. Happy Birthday to America’s National Parks: 1916–2016 (Eastern National, 2016). Labrecque, Ellen. Land Trusts and National Parks (Cherry Lake, 2017). Leavitt, Amie Jane. National Parks Volunteer (Weigl, 2017). McHugh, Erin. National Parks: A Kid’s Guide to America’s Parks, Monuments, and Landmarks (Black Dog and Leventhal, 2012). Newton, Gina. Amazing Animals in Australia’s National Parks (National Library of Australia, 2016). O’Donnell, Kerri. Denali National Park, an Alaskan Ecosystem: Creating Graphical Representations of Data (PowerKids, 2007). Peabody, Erin. A Weird and Wild Beauty: The Story of Yellowstone, the World’s First National Park (SkyPony, 2016). Purslow, Neil. Redwood National Park: Forest of Giants (Weigl, 2007). Winterberg, Jenna. Parks for All: U.S. National Parks (Teacher Created Materials, 2017).