This is a comprehensive list of all of the national parks in the U.S.A., plus a free map and checklist.
HOW MANY NATIONAL PARKS ARE IN THE USA?
There are currently 63 national parks in the USA. National parks are amazing places set aside for their beauty and importance, with the main goal being to preserve and protect resources that have national significance. National parks are created by an act of Congress and are managed by the National Park Service.
The National Park Service manages over 400 sites, including national parks, monuments, seashores, battlefields, recreation areas, historic sites, and more. Technically, all of these areas are “national parks” because they are managed by the National Park Service.
However, only 63 of these sites are designated as actual national parks — these are the sites that are included on the map and in the following lists!
FREE PRINTABLE MAP OF THE U.S. NATIONAL PARKS
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF NATIONAL PARKS IN THE USA
1. Acadia
2. American Samoa
3. Arches
4. Badlands
5. Big Bend
6. Biscayne
7. Black Canyon of the Gunnison
8. Bryce Canyon
9. Canyonlands
10. Capitol Reef
11. Carlsbad Caverns
12. Channel Islands
13. Congaree
14. Crater Lake
15. Cuyahoga Valley
16. Death Valley
17. Denali
18. Dry Tortugas
19. Everglades
21. Gateway Arch
22. Glacier Bay
23. Glacier
24. Grand Canyon
25. Grand Teton
26. Great Basin
27. Great Sand Dunes
30. Haleakala
32. Hot Springs
33. Indiana Dunes
34. Isle Royale
35. Joshua Tree
36. Katmai
37. Kenai Fjords
38. Kings Canyon
39. Kobuk Valley
40. Lake Clark
41. Lassen Volcanic
42. Mammoth Cave
43. Mesa Verde
44. Mount Rainier
45. New River Gorge
46. North Cascades
47. Olympic
48. Petrified Forest
49. Pinnacles
50. Redwood
51. Rocky Mountain
52. Saguaro
53. Sequoia
54. Shenandoah
56. Virgin Islands
57. Voyageurs
58. White Sands
59. Wind Cave
61. Yellowstone
62. Yosemite
LIST OF U.S. NATIONAL PARKS BY STATE
ALASKA (8)
Denali
Gates of the Arctic
Glacier Bay
Katmai
Kenai Fjords
Kobuk Valley
Lake Clark
Wrangell-St. Elias
ARIZONA (3)
Grand Canyon
Petrified Forest
Saguaro
ARKANSAS
Hot Springs
CALIFORNIA (9)
Channel Islands
Death Valley
Joshua Tree
Kings Canyon
Lassen Volcanic
Pinnacles
Redwood
Sequoia
Yosemite
COLORADO (4)
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Great Sand Dunes
Mesa Verde
Rocky Mountain
FLORIDA (3)
Biscayne
Dry Tortugas
Everglades
HAWAI’I (2)
Haleakala
Hawai’i Volcanoes
IDAHO
Yellowstone
INDIANA
Indiana Dunes
KENTUCKY
Mammoth Cave
MAINE
Acadia
MICHIGAN
Isle Royale
MINNESOTA
Voyageurs
MISSOURI
Gateway Arch
MONTANA (2)
Glacier
Yellowstone
NEVADA
Great Basin
NEW MEXICO (2)
Carlsbad Caverns
White Sands
NORTH CAROLINA
Great Smoky Mountains
NORTH DAKOTA
Theodore Roosevelt
OHIO
Cuyahoga Valley
OREGON
Crater Lake
SOUTH CAROLINA
Congaree
SOUTH DAKOTA (2)
Badlands
Wind Cave
TENNESSEE
Great Smoky Mountains
TEXAS (2)
Big Bend
Guadalupe Mountains
UTAH (5)
Arches
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Zion
VIRGINIA
Shenandoah
WASHINGTON (3)
Mount Rainier
North Cascades
Olympic
WEST VIRGINIA
New River Gorge
WYOMING (2)
Grand Teton
Yellowstone
U.S. TERRITORIES
American Samoa
Virgin Islands
FREE PRINTABLE U.S. NATIONAL PARKS CHECKLIST
Easily keep track of where you’ve been and where you still need to go with this free printable checklist of all of the national parks in the U.S.A.!
LIST OF THE 10 OLDEST NATIONAL PARKS IN THE U.S.A.
1. Yellowstone (Wyoming): March 1, 1872
2. Sequoia (California): September 25, 1890
3. Yosemite (California): October 1, 1890
4. Mount Rainier (Washington): March 2, 1899
5. Crater Lake (Oregon): May 22, 1902
6. Wind Cave (South Dakota): January 9, 1903
7. Mesa Verde (Colorado): June 29, 1906
8. Glacier (Montana): May 11, 1910
9. Rocky Mountain (Colorado): January 26, 1915
10. Hawai’i Volcanoes (Hawai’i): August 1, 1916
Click here to see the full list of U.S. National Parks by the date they were established!
LIST OF THE 10 NEWEST NATIONAL PARKS IN THE USA
1. New River Gorge (West Virginia): December 27, 2020
2. White Sands (New Mexico): December 20, 2019
3. Indiana Dunes (Indiana): February 15, 2019
4. Gateway Arch (Missouri): February 22, 2018
5. Pinnacles (California): January 10, 2013
6. Great Sand Dunes (Colorado): September 24, 2004
7. Congaree (South Carolina): November 10, 2003
8. Cuyahoga Valley (Ohio): October 11, 2000
9. Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado): October 21, 1999
10. Joshua Tree (California): October 31, 1994
Click here to see the full list of U.S. National Parks by the date they were established!
LIST OF THE 10 BIGGEST NATIONAL PARKS IN THE USA
1. Wrangell-St. Elias (Alaska): 8,323,146.5 acres for the national park + 4,852,644 acres for the national preserve = 13,175,790.5 total acres
2. Gates of the Arctic (Alaska): 7,523,897.5 acres for the national park + 948,608 acres for the national preserve = 8,472,505.5 total acres
3. Denali (Alaska): 4,740,911.2 acres for the national park + 1,334,117 acres for the national preserve = 6,075,028.2 total acres
4. Katmai (Alaska): 3,674,529.3 acres for the national park + 418,698 acres for the national preserve = 4,093,227.3 total acres
5. Lake Clark (Alaska): 2,619,816.5 acres for the national park + 1,410,293 acres for the national preserve = 4,030,109.5 total acres
6. Death Valley (California): 3,408,395.6 acres
7. Glacier Bay (Alaska): 3,223,383.4 acres for the national park + 58,406 acres for the national preserve = 3,281,789.4 total acres
8. Yellowstone (Wyoming): 2,219,790.7 acres
9. Kobuk Valley (Alaska): 1,750,716.2 acres
10. Everglades (Florida): 1,508,938.6 acres
Click here to see the full list of U.S. National Parks by size!
LIST OF THE 10 SMALLEST NATIONAL PARKS IN THE USA
1. Gateway Arch (Missouri): 192.8 acres
2. Hot Springs (Arkansas): 5,554.2 acres
3. American Samoa: 8,256.7 acres
4. Virgin Islands (U.S. Virgin Islands): 15,052.3 acres
5. Indiana Dunes (Indiana): 15,349.1 acres
6. Pinnacles (California): 26,685.7 acres
7. Congaree (South Carolina): 26,692.6 acres
8. Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado): 30,779.8 acres
9. Cuyahoga Valley (Ohio): 32,571.9 acres
10. Haleakala (Hawai’i): 33,489 acres
Click here to see the full list of U.S. National Parks by size!
LIST OF THE 10 MOST VISITED NATIONAL PARKS IN THE USA
1. Great Smoky Mountains (Tennessee/North Carolina): 12.9 million visitors
2. Grand Canyon (Arizona): 4.7 million visitors
3. Zion (Utah): 4.7 million visitors
4. Rocky Mountain (Colorado): 4.3 million visitors
5. Acadia (Maine): 4 million visitors
6. Yosemite (California): 3.7 million visitors
7. Yellowstone (Wyoming): 3.3 million visitors
8. Joshua Tree (California): 3.1 million visitors
9. Cuyahoga Valley (Ohio): 2.9 million visitors
10. Glacier (Montana): 2.9 million visitors
Click here to see the full list of U.S. National Parks by visitation (most visited and least visited).
LIST OF THE 10 LEAST VISITED NATIONAL PARKS IN THE USA
1. American Samoa: 1,887 visitors
2. Gates of the Arctic (Alaska): 9,457 visitors
3. Kobuk Valley (Alaska): 16,925 visitors
4. Lake Clark (Alaska): 18,187 visitors
5. Isle Royale (Michigan): 25,454 visitors
6. North Cascades (Washington): 30,154 visitors
7. Katmai (Alaska): 33,908 visitors
8. Wrangell-St. Elias (Alaska): 65,236 visitors
9. Dry Tortugas (Florida): 78,488 visitors
10. Great Basin (Nevada): 142,115 visitors
Click here to see the full list of U.S. National Parks by visitation (most visited and least visited).
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THE U.S. NATIONAL PARKS
How many national parks are in the United States?
There are currently 63 national parks in the United States and its territories.
What is the oldest national park in the United States?
Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is the oldest national park in the U.S. It was established on March 1, 1872- it is not only America’s first national park but also the first national park in the world!
What is the newest national park in the United States?
New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia is the newest national park in America. It was established on December 27, 2020.
Is there a national park in every state?
No, not all states in America have a national park. There are 20 states without a national park, and they are Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
Which state has the most national parks?
California is the U.S. state with the most national parks — there are nine: Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwood, Sequoia, and Yosemite.
What is the largest national park in the United States?
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska is the largest national park in the U.S. It is 13,175,790.5 total acres, which is the size of Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the entire country of Switzerland combined!
What is the smallest national park in the United States?
Gateway Arch National Park in Missouri is the smallest national park in America. It is only 192.8 acres.
What is the busiest national park in the United States?
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina is the busiest national park in the U.S. It consistently has somewhere around 13-14 million visitors each year!
Hey there, I’m Ash!
I worked as a park ranger in Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming, and I am so excited to help you plan your next national park trip. I think that every national park is unique and beautiful, and you never know which one will speak to your soul the most (which is why the parks should never be ranked from best to worst)!
I would love to hear from you, so please leave a comment on this post if you have any questions as you turn your dream trip into a reality!
Leave a Reply