A major travel bucket list item is to visit all U.S. National Parks. From the Everglades in Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska. Use this list of the U.S. National Parks A to Z including which state they are located in, when they were established, and even a fun fact to track your new bucket list item: Visit the U.S. National Parks: See All 63 Now!
The first national park was established in 1872 and new territories are continuing to be added to these protected lands. Run by the National Park Service, our national parks have everything from incredible hikes and views, waterfalls and caves, and wildlife and trees and plants. Start exploring the United States and check off each National Park one by one.
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Visit the 61 National Parks in the United States!
Plus 2 bonus parks on U.S. territory!
1. Acadia National Park
State: Maine
Established: 1919
Fun Fact: Between October and March, Acadia is the first place to see sunrise.
2. Arches National Park
State: Utah
Established: 1971
Fun Fact: Arches National Park has the largest concentration of stone arches in the world.
3. Badlands National Park
State: South Dakota
Established: 1978
Fun Fact: The Badlands is known for its large amounts of fossils remains found.
4. Big Bend National Park
State: Texas
Established: 1944
Fun Fact: Big Bend is known for having some of the clearest skies with very little to no light pollution.
5. Biscayne National Park
State: Florida
Established: 1980
Fun Fact: There are hundreds of shipwrecks underwater at Biscayne National Park.
6. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
State: Colorado
Established: 1999
Fun Fact: The bottom of the canyon only gets sunlight for around 33 minutes a day.
7. Bryce Canyon National Park
State: Colorado
Established: 1928
Fun Fact: Bryce Canyon has the largest concentration of hoodoos, or irregular columns of rock, on the planet.
8. Canyonlands National Park
State: Utah
Established: 1964
Fun Fact: The Canyonlands is broken up into 4 districts: Needles, Island in the Sky, Maze, and the Rivers.
9. Capitol Reef National Park
State: Utah
Established: 1971
Fun Fact: A couple of businessmen originally found the area that is known as Capital Reef today which they called “Wayne’s Wonderland”.
10. Carlsbad Caverns National Park
State: New Mexico
Established: 1930
Fun Fact: Home to the nation’s deepest cave.
11. Channel Islands National Park
State: California
Established: 1980
Fun Fact: Consisting of 5 islands, Channel Islands is one of the emptiest national parks.
12. Congaree National Park
State: South Carolina
Established: 2003
Fun Fact: Contains the largest area of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left.
13. Crater Lake National Park
State: Oregon
Established: 1902
Fun Fact: Home to the deepest lake in the U.S.
14. Cuyahoga Valley National Park
State: Ohio
Established: 2000
Fun Fact: Cuyahoga is derived from the Mohawk word Cayagaga, which means crooked river.
15. Death Valley National Park
State: California, Nevada
Established: 1994
Fun Fact: One of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on Earth was at Death Valley National Park at 134 degrees.
16. Denali National Park
State: Alaska
Established: 1917
Fun Fact: In this park is the highest point in the national parks at Mount McKinley.
17. Dry Tortugas National Park
State: Florida
Established: 1992
Fun Fact: Made of 7 tiny islands this park is the most remote national park.
18. Everglades National Park
State: Florida
Established: 1934
Fun Fact: This park protects more than 25% of Florida’s original everglades.
19. Gates of the Arctic National Park
State: Alaska
Established: 1980
Fun Fact: Gates of the Arctic is the most northern national park.
20. Gateway Arch National Park
State: Missouri
Established: 2018
Fun Fact: This is the smallest national park.
21. Glacier National Park
State: Montana
Established: 1910
Fun Fact: The park contains 26 glaciers.
22. Glacier Bay National Park
State: 1980
Established: Alaska
Fun Fact: This park is larger than the whole state of Connecticut.
23. Grand Canyon National Park
State: Arizona
Established: 1919
Fun Fact: The Grand Canyon is one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World.
24. Grand Teton National Park
State: Wyoming
Established: 1929
Fun Fact: Grand Teton is only 10 miles away from Yellowstone.
25. Great Basin National Park
State: Nevada
Established: 1986
Fun Fact: Some of the oldest trees on earth live on the mountain slopes of the Great Basin park.
26. Great Sand Dunes National Park
State: Colorado
Established: 2004
Fun Fact: This park is home to the tallest sand dunes on the continent.
27. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
State: North Carolina, Tennessee
Established: 1934
Fun Fact: It is the most visited National Park.
28. Guadalupe Mountains National Park
State: Texas
Established: 1966
Fun Fact: The Guadalupe Mountains are the same mountains shared with Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
29. Haleakala National Park
State: Hawai’i
Established: 1961
Fun Fact: Haleakala is a popular place to view the sunrise and means “House of the Sun”.
30. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
State: Hawai’i
Established: 1916
Fun Fact: Mauna Loa Volcano is the largest volcano on earth both in terms of volume and height above its base.
31. Hot Springs National Park
State: Arkansas
Established: 1921
Fun Fact: Hot Springs is the smallest National Park and was technically the first piece of federally protected land, it just wasn’t yet named a National Park.
32. Indiana Dunes National Park
State: Indiana
Established: 2019
Fun Fact: Indiana Dunes is one of the newer parks added to the National Parks list.
33. Isle Royale National Park
State: Michigan
Established: 1940
Fun Fact: Isle Royale is the only park to close entirely for the winter.
34. Joshua Tree National Park
State: California
Established: 1994
Fun Fact: Joshua trees aren’t actually trees, but yucca plants.
35. Katmai National Park and Preserve
State: Alaska
Established: 1980
Fun Fact: The park was established to protect the region after a devastating volcanic eruption.
36. Kenai Fjords National Park
State: Alaska
Established: 1980
Fun Fact: This parks coastline encompasses more than 400 miles of irregular and rugged coastline on Alaska’s gulf coast.
37. Kings Canyon National Park
State: California
Established: 1940
Fun Fact: The first known inhabitants of the area that is now Kings Canyon were the Monache Indians.
38. Kobuk Valley National Park
State: Alaska
Established: 1980
Fun Fact: Kobuk Valley is one of the least visited parks.
39. Lake Clark National Park
State: Alaska
Established: 1980
Fun Fact: The highest point in the park is an active volcano, Mount Redoubt, whose last eruption was 2009.
40. Lassen Volcanic National Park
State: California
Established: 1916
Fun Fact: Originally two separate parks, Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen Peak National Monument, were combined in 1916 to create what is now known as Lassen Volcanic National Park.
41. Mammoth Cave National Park
State: Kentucky
Established: 1941
Fun Fact: Mammoth Cave has the longest cave system in the world.
42. Mesa Verde National Park
State: Colorado
Established: 1906
Fun Fact: Mesa Verde is the first national park to be recognized for “works of man”.
43. Mount Rainier National Park
State: Washington
Established: 1899
Fun Fact: Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous United States.
44. New River Gorge National Park
State: West Virginia
Established: 2021
Fun Fact: This is the newest national park.
45. North Cascades National Park
State: Washington
Established: 1968
Fun Fact: The North Cascades are sometimes referred to as the American Alps due to the snowy mountain peaks.
46. Olympic National Park
State: Washington
Established: 1938
Fun Fact: The area is one of the most unique landscapes of a national park including old growth forests, glaciered mountain peaks, temperate rainforest, and miles of coastline.
47. Petrified Forest National Park
State: Arizona
Established: 1962
Fun Fact: This park is the only National park that contains a segment of the Historic Route 66.
48. Pinnacles National Park
State: California
Established: 2013
Fun Fact: Pinnacles was created by a now extinct volcano.
49. Redwood National Park
State: California
Established: 1968
Fun Fact: Redwood is home to the tallest tree in the world, Hyperion.
50. Rocky Mountain National Park
State: Colorado
Established: 1915
Fun Fact: This park is one of the highest national parks with elevations from 7,860 feet to 14,259 feet.
51. Saguaro National Park
State: Arizona
Established: 1994
Fun Fact: Saguaro is home to the nation’s largest cacti.
52. Sequoia National Park
State: California
Established: 1890
Fun Fact: Home to the largest tree in the world, General Sherman.
53. Shenandoah National Park
State: Virginia
Established: 1935
Fun Fact: Since people use to live in the park in the 1900s, there are tons of family cemeteries located throughout.
54. Theodore Roosevelt National Park
State: North Dakota
Established: 1978
Fun Fact: This park includes one of the biggest and last petrified forests in the country.
55. Voyageurs National Park
State: Minnesota
Established: 1971
Fun Fact: Only accessible by boat, this park is know for its water activities through boating, fishing, swimming, and more.
56. White Sands National Park
State: New Mexico
Established: 2019
Fun Fact: White Sands National Park is the newest park to be added.
57. Wind Cave National Park
State: South Dakota
Established: 1903
Fun Fact: This park is the first cave to be designated as a national park.
58. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
State: Alaska
Established: 1980
Fun Fact: This is the largest national park.
59. Yellowstone National Park
State: Wyoming, Idaho, Montana
Established: 1872
Fun Fact: Yellowstone is the first national park!
60. Yosemite National Park
State: California
Established: 1872
Fun Fact: 3/10 of the highest waterfalls in the world are located here.
61. Zion National Park
State: Utah
Established: 1919
Fun Fact: Home to one of the scariest hikes in America, Angels Landings is know for some of the worlds most dangerous views.
2 bonus parks!
62. National Park of American Samoa
State: American Samoa
Established: 1988
Fun Fact: This park is the only National Park south of the equator.
63. Virgin Islands National Park
State: U.S. Virgin Islands
Established: 1956
Fun Fact: The park was created to protect coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves, and other habitats.
The National Parks are all so unique and cover such a wide variety of landscapes, climates, animals, etc. Visiting all 63 National Parks is easily on my personal travel bucket list. How many parks have you been to so far? Leave it in the comments below!
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