9 Fun Facts About U.S. National Parks
The 63 (as of this writing in February 2021) National Parks in the United States showcase the gems of our natural wonders. From the hot springs of Yellowstone to the lighthouses of Acadia, they represent the beauty and diversity of the American Landscape. Here are a few fun facts about these beautiful areas.
The U.S. National Parks Service oversees over 400 national parks, parkways, seashores, lakeshores, recreation areas, memorials, and monuments - meaning there’s almost certainly one near you.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park (Tennessee) is the most visited park. It saw almost 13 million visitors in 2019. The most visited area overseen by the NPS is the Golden Gate Recreation Area in San Francisco, California, with over 15 million visitors per year.
Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve (Alaska) is the least visited, with around 10,000 visitors. It has no internal roads or trails, so it is strongly recommended you hire a guide to visit the park. It is impassable for a large part of the year.
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve (Alaska) is the largest national park at over 13 million acres. It is larger than the states of Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Maryland, as well as all U.S. territories and minor outlying islands.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee - Photo by Jonny James on Unsplash
At 5,500 acres, Hot Springs National Park (Arkansas) is the smallest. It is also one of the oldest national parks, as it was designated a “national reservation” by the federal government in 1832. Yet it wasn’t designated an official “national park” until 1921. The only areas under the NPS’s jurisdiction that are older are the National Mall (1790) and the White House/President’s Park (1792).
Founded in 1872, Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming and Idaho) is the oldest national park (to be designated as such from the beginning). It was founded a full 44 years before the creation of the National Parks Service in 1916.
Designated as part of a COVID-19 relief package in December 2020, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is the newest national park, and West Virginia's first. It is the largest river gorge in the Appalachian mountain range, and a kayaker’s paradise.
Glacier National Park (Montana) is part of the world’s first international park. It is partnered with Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park. Together, they're called the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, founded in 1932. Some advocates think the same should be done with Big Bend in Texas and the area of Mexico on the other side of the border, as it’s an important migratory corridor for large predators that have only recently been seen in the area again.
Isle Royale (Michigan) is the only national park that officially closes for a season - though some in Alaska are occasionally unreachable due to inclement weather. Isle Royale sits on an island in the middle of Michigan’s Lake Superior. You can only reach the park itself by boat or seaplane, so is not accessible during Michigan’s harsh winters. It is closed to visitors from November 1 - April 15th every year.
If this article inspired you to visit a national park, you might be thinking, when should I go? Find my answer to that question here.
