List of areas in the United States National Park System


The National Park System of the United States is the collection of physical properties owned or administered by the National Park Service. The collection includes all national parks and most national monuments, as well as several other types of protected areas of the United States.
As of December 2024, there are units of the National Park System. However, this number is somewhat misleading. For example, Denali National Park and Preserve is counted as two units, since the same name applies to a national park and an adjacent national preserve. Yet Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is counted as one unit, despite its double designation. Counting methodology is typically based on the language of a park's authorizing legislation.
Although the designations generally reflect sites' features, all units of the system are considered administratively equal and with few exceptions the designations themselves do not define their level of protection. Each site has a management plan consistent with its ecological, historic, and recreational resources and its enabling legislation.
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.
National Park System units are found in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories of Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The territory of the Northern Mariana Islands has an affiliated area but not an official NPS unit.
Nearly all units managed by the National Park Service participate in the National Park Passport Stamps program.

National parks

There are 63 officially designated national parks in the United States and its dependent areas, as of 2021. The national parks are considered the "crown jewels" of the system and are typically larger than other areas, including a variety of significant ecological and geological resources.

Former national parks

NameEstablishedDisbandedResult
Abraham Lincoln National ParkJuly 17, 1916August 11, 1939Redesignated as Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park
Fort McHenry National ParkMarch 3, 1925August 11, 1939Redesignated under the unique designation of Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
General Grant National ParkOctober 1, 1890March 4, 1940Incorporated into Kings Canyon National Park
Hawaii National ParkAugust 1, 1916September 13, 1960Divided into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Haleakala National Park
Mackinac National ParkApril 15, 1875March 2, 1895Transferred to Michigan; now operated as Mackinac Island State Park
Platt National ParkJune 29, 1906March 17, 1976Incorporated with Arbuckle Recreation Area and redesignated Chickasaw National Recreation Area
Rock Creek ParkSeptember 27, 1890August 10, 1933Incorporated into National Capital Parks
Sullys Hill Park April 27, 1904March 3, 1931Transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; now operated as White Horse Hill National Game Preserve

National monuments

There are 138 national monuments, 89 of which are administered by the NPS and are listed below. Of these, 87 are NPS official units.
The remaining 49 monuments are administered by five other federal agencies. Three, Grand Canyon–Parashant, Craters of the Moon, and Avi Kwa Ame National Monuments, are jointly administered by the NPS and the Bureau of Land Management, and Tule Lake National Monument is joint with the Fish and Wildlife Service. National monuments are typically smaller and protect just one or few major resources. They include both natural and historical sites and can be established by the president under the Antiquities Act. 34 former national monuments have been redesignated or incorporated into national parks.
NameLocationArea
African Burial Ground National MonumentNew York
Agate Fossil Beds National MonumentNebraska
Alibates Flint Quarries National MonumentTexas
Aniakchak National Monument and PreserveAlaska
Avi Kwa Ame National Monument NevadaNPS manages of
Aztec Ruins National MonumentNew Mexico
Bandelier National MonumentNew Mexico
Belmont–Paul Women's Equality National MonumentDistrict of Columbia
Birmingham Civil Rights National MonumentAlabama
Booker T. Washington National MonumentVirginia
Buck Island Reef National MonumentU.S. Virgin Islands
Cabrillo National MonumentCalifornia
Camp Nelson National MonumentKentucky
Canyon de Chelly National MonumentArizona
Cape Krusenstern National MonumentAlaska
Capulin Volcano National MonumentNew Mexico
Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National MonumentPennsylvania
Casa Grande Ruins National MonumentArizona
Castillo de San Marcos National MonumentFlorida
Castle Clinton National MonumentNew York
Castle Mountains National MonumentCalifornia
Cedar Breaks National MonumentUtah
César E. Chávez National MonumentCalifornia
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National MonumentOhio
Chiricahua National MonumentArizona
Colorado National MonumentColorado
Craters of the Moon National Monument and PreserveIdaho
Devils Postpile National MonumentCalifornia
Devils Tower National MonumentWyoming
Dinosaur National MonumentUtah, Colorado
Effigy Mounds National MonumentIowa
El Malpais National MonumentNew Mexico
El Morro National MonumentNew Mexico
Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National MonumentIllinois, Mississippi
Florissant Fossil Beds National MonumentColorado
Fort Frederica National MonumentGeorgia
Fort Matanzas National MonumentFlorida
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic ShrineMaryland
Fort Monroe National MonumentVirginia
Fort Pulaski National MonumentGeorgia
Fort Stanwix National MonumentNew York
Fort Union National MonumentNew Mexico
Fossil Butte National MonumentWyoming
Frances Perkins National MonumentMaine
Freedom Riders National MonumentAlabama
George Washington Birthplace National MonumentVirginia
George Washington Carver National MonumentMissouri
Gila Cliff Dwellings National MonumentNew Mexico
Governors Island National MonumentNew York
Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument ArizonaNPS manages of
Grand Portage National MonumentMinnesota
Hagerman Fossil Beds National MonumentIdaho
Hohokam Pima National MonumentArizona
Hovenweep National MonumentColorado, Utah
Jewel Cave National MonumentSouth Dakota
John Day Fossil Beds National MonumentOregon
Katahdin Woods and Waters National MonumentMaine
Lava Beds National MonumentCalifornia
Little Bighorn Battlefield National MonumentMontana
Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National MonumentMississippi
Mill Springs Battlefield National MonumentKentucky
Montezuma Castle National MonumentArizona
Muir Woods National MonumentCalifornia
Natural Bridges National MonumentUtah
Navajo National MonumentArizona
Oregon Caves National Monument and PreserveOregon
Organ Pipe Cactus National MonumentArizona
Petroglyph National MonumentNew Mexico
Pipe Spring National MonumentArizona
Pipestone National MonumentMinnesota
Poverty Point National MonumentLouisiana
Rainbow Bridge National MonumentUtah
Russell Cave National MonumentAlabama
Salinas Pueblo Missions National MonumentNew Mexico
Scotts Bluff National MonumentNebraska
Springfield 1908 Race Riot National MonumentIllinois
Statue of Liberty National MonumentNew York, New Jersey
Stonewall National MonumentNew York
Sunset Crater Volcano National MonumentArizona
Timpanogos Cave National MonumentUtah
Tonto National MonumentArizona
Tule Lake National MonumentCalifornia
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National MonumentNevada
Tuzigoot National MonumentArizona
Virgin Islands Coral Reef National MonumentU.S. Virgin Islands
Waco Mammoth National MonumentTexas
Walnut Canyon National MonumentArizona
Wupatki National MonumentArizona
Yucca House National MonumentColorado