The National Park System of the United States is the collection of physical properties owned or administered by the National Park Service. This includes all areas designated National Parks and most National Monuments, as well as several other types of protected areas of the United States.
As of 2011, there are 397 units of the National Park System. However, this number is somewhat misleading. For example: Denali National Park and Preserve is counted as two units, whereas Fort Moultrie is not counted as a unit because it is considered a feature of the Fort Sumter National Monument.
In addition to areas of the National Park System, the National Park Service also provides technical and financial assistance to several affiliated areas authorized by Congress. Affiliated areas are marked on the lists below.
The National Register of Historic Places is administered by the Park Service (with nearly 79,000 entries) and automatically includes all National Park System areas designated due to their historic significance. This includes all National Historical Parks/Historic Sites, National Battlefields/Military Parks, National Memorials, and some National Monuments.
Delaware is the only state without a unit of the National Park System. Units are found in all other states, in Washington, D.C., and in the U.S. territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
Nearly all units managed by the National Park Service participate in the National Park Passport Stamps program.
There are 58 officially-designated National Parks in the United States and its dependent areas.
| Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Lincoln National Park | July 17, 1916 | August 11, 1939 | redesignated Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park |
| Fort McHenry National Park | March 3, 1925 | August 11, 1939 | redesignated, uniquely, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine |
| General Grant National Park | October 1, 1890 | March 4, 1940 | incorporated into Kings Canyon National Park |
| Hawaii National Park | August 1, 1916 | September 13, 1960 | divided into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Haleakala National Park |
| Mackinac National Park | April 15, 1875 | 1895 | now Mackinac Island State Park |
| Platt National Park | June 29, 1906 | March 17, 1976 | now Chickasaw National Recreation Area |
| Sullys Hill National Park | April 27, 1904 | March 3, 1931 | now Sullys Hill National Game Preserve (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) |
As of 2011, there are 101 U.S. National Monuments, of which 76 are administered by the NPS and are listed below. All except Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument are official units.
| Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Papago Saguaro National Monument | January 31, 1914 | April 7, 1930 | Transferred to Arizona |
| Lewis and Clark Cavern National Monument | May 11, 1908 | August 24, 1937 | Transferred to Montana |
| Father Millet Cross National Monument | August 10, 1933 | September 7, 1949 | Transferred to New York |
| Wheeler National Monument | December 7, 1908 | August 3, 1950 | Returned to United States Forest Service |
| Holy Cross National Monument | May 11, 1929 | August 3, 1950 | Returned to United States Forest Service |
| Jackson Hole National Monument | 1943 | September 14, 1950 | Now part of Grand Teton National Park |
| Shoshone Cavern National Monument | September 21, 1909 | May 17, 1954 | Transferred to Cody, Wyoming. |
| Old Kasaan National Monument | October 25, 1916 | July 26, 1955 | Transferred to United States Forest Service |
| Castle Pinckney National Monument | August 10, 1933 | March 29, 1956 | Transferred to South Carolina |
| Verendrye National Monument | June 29, 1917 | July 30, 1956 | Transferred to North Dakota |
| Fossil Cycad National Monument | October 21, 1922 | August 1, 1956 | Transferred to Bureau of Land Management |
| Ackia Battlefield National Monument | August 27, 1935 | August 10, 1961 | Incorporated into Natchez Trace Parkway |
| Meriwether Lewis National Monument | February 6,1925 | August 10, 1961 | Incorporated into Natchez Trace Parkway |
| Petrified Forest National Monument | December 8, 1906 | December 9, 1962 | Incorporated into Petrified Forest National Park |
| Lehman Caves National Monument | June 10, 1933 (administered by the National Forest Service from January 24, 1922 until then) | October 27, 1986 | Incorporated into Great Basin National Park[1] |
| Mound City Group National Monument | January 1, 1918 | January 2, 1992 | Incorporated into Hopewell Culture National Historical Park |
| Minidoka Internment National Monument | January 17, 2001 | May 8, 2008 | Incorporated into Minidoka National Historic Site |
There are 18 national preserves.
There are 45 National Historical Parks.
| Name | Law |
|---|---|
| First State National Historical Park, DE | (112th Congress: HR 624, S. 323) |
The National Park Service administers most of the National Historic Sites. However, the U.S. Forest Service manages one, Grey Towers National Historic Site, and the BLM manages Fort Craig National Historic Site.
There are 89 National Historic Sites, of which 78 are NPS units and 11 are affiliated areas.
| Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Campaign National Historic Site | October 13, 1944 | September 21, 1950 | transferred to state of Georgia. |
| Mar-A-Lago National Historic Site | October 21, 1972 | December 23, 1980 | returned to Post Foundation. |
| McLoughlin House National Historic Site | merged into Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. | ||
| St. Thomas National Historic Site | December 24, 1960 | February 5, 1975 | transferred to Virgin Islands. |
| Name | Law |
|---|---|
| Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site | (authorized by Public Law 107-137) |
| Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Saint Croix Island International Historic Site | Maine/New Brunswick |
| Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moores Creek National Military Park | June 2, 1926 | September 8, 1980 | Redesignated Moores Creek National Battlefield |
| Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site | Mississippi |
There are 28 National Memorials that are NPS units and five affiliated national memorials.
| Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Echota Marker National Memorial | August 10, 1933 | September 21, 1950 | transferred to state of Georgia. |
| Name | Law |
|---|---|
| Adams Memorial | (authorized by Public Law 107-62) |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial | (authorized by Public Law 107-117) |
| Mount Soledad National Memorial | (authorized by Public Law 108-447) |
There are 18 National Recreation Areas.
| Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cuyahoga Valley National Rec. Area | December 27, 1974 | October 11, 2000 | redesignated Cuyahoga Valley National Park |
| Shasta Lake Recreation Area | May 22, 1945 | July 1, 1948 | transferred to Forest Service |
| Lake Texoma Recreation Area | April 18, 1946 | June 30, 1949 | returned to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |
| Millerton Lake Recreation Area | May 22, 1945 | November 1, 1957 | transferred to state of California |
| Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area | July 22, 1963 | October 1, 1968 | transferred to Forest Service |
| Shadow Mountain Recreation Area | June 27, 1952 | March 1, 1979 | transferred to Forest Service |
There are 10 National Seashores.
There are four National Lakeshores, located in Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
| Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Apostle Islands National Lakeshore | Wisconsin |
| Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | Indiana |
| Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore | Michigan |
| Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore | Michigan |
There are 5 National Rivers and 10 National Wild and Scenic Rivers administered as distinct units of the National Park System.
| Name | Location |
|---|---|
| City of Rocks National Reserve | Idaho |
| Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve | Washington |
| New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve (affiliated area) | New Jersey |
| Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Baltimore-Washington Parkway (affiliated area) | Maryland, Washington, D.C. |
| Blue Ridge Parkway | Virginia, North Carolina |
| Colonial Parkway (part of Colonial National Historical Park) | Virginia |
| Foothills Parkway (part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park) | Tennessee |
| George Washington Memorial Parkway (In 1989, the Maryland and DC portions of the Parkway were renamed Clara Barton Parkway to overcome motorist confusion). | Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C. |
| John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway | Wyoming |
| Natchez Trace Parkway | Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee |
| Oxon Run Parkway (affiliated area) | Washington, D.C. |
| Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway (affiliated area) | Washington, D.C. |
| Suitland Parkway (affiliated area) | Maryland |
These National Park Service trails are part of the larger National Trails System. Only 3 of the trails are considered official units of the Park system.
Most National Cemeteries are administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, although a few are managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Army. None of the cemeteries are considered official units of the system; they are all affiliated with other parks.
| Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga National Cemetery | August 10, 1933 | December 7, 1944 | returned to War Department |
The National Park Service provides limited assistance to National Heritage Areas, but does not administer them.
There are 10 NPS units of other designations, as well as other affiliated areas. The National Mall and National Capital Parks have many sites, some of which are also units of other designations and some are also National Historic Sites.
There are also various administrative groups of listed parks, such as Manhattan Sites, National Parks of New York Harbor, and Western Arctic National Parklands. The NPS also owns conservation easements (but not the land itself) for part of the area called the Green Springs National Historic Landmark District.
| Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Visitor Center, Washington, D.C. | March 12, 1968 | December 29, 1981 | transferred to Department of Transportation. |
| John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | June 16, 1972 | July 21, 1994 | transferred to Kennedy Center Trustees. |
| Name | Source |
|---|---|
| Delaware National Bayshore, DE
Maine Woods National Park, ME| http://www.mainewoodsnationalpark.com/index.html </ref> |
| State of Delaware and U.S. Dept. of the Interior[2] |}
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