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. 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 2015, there are 407 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 rooted in the language of a park's enabling legislation. Elsewhere, Fort Moultrie is not counted as a unit because it is considered a feature of 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.

Units are found in all 50 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.

National parks

Existing national parks

There are 59 officially-designated national parks in the United States and its dependent areas.

Disbanded national parks

National monuments

As of 2014, there are 106 U.S. national monuments, of which 78 are administered by the NPS and are listed below. The remaining 28 monuments are administered by 5 other federal agencies. One, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, is jointly administered by the NPS and the BLM.

Decommissioned national monuments

National preserves

There are 19 national preserves.

National historical parks

There are 49 national historical parks.

Authorized national historical parks

National historic sites

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 Bureau of Land Management manages Fort Craig National Historic Site.

There are 90 national historic sites, of which 78 are NPS units and 12 are affiliated areas.

Disbanded national historic sites

Authorized national historic sites

International historic site

National battlefield parks

National military parks

Disbanded national military park

National battlefields

National battlefield site

National memorials

There are 29 national memorials that are NPS units and five affiliated national memorials.

Disbanded national memorials

Authorized national memorials

National recreation areas

There are 18 national recreation areas administered by the National Park Service.

Disestablished or transferred national recreation areas

National seashores

There are 10 national seashores.

National lakeshores

There are four national lakeshores, located in Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

National rivers

There are 5 national rivers and 10 national wild and scenic rivers administered as distinct units of the National Park System.

National reserves

National parkways

National historic and scenic trails

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.

National cemeteries

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.

Transferred national cemeteries

National heritage areas

See also:
- U.S. national heritage areas

The National Park Service provides limited assistance to national heritage areas, but does not administer them.

Other NPS protected areas and administrative groups

There are 11 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.

Disbanded other areas

In the 1930 and 1940s, the NPS developed dozens of recreational demonstration areas, most of which eventually became national or state parks.

References

Bureau Historian (2006). "Former National Park System Units: An Analysis".
National Park Service. "National Monument Proclamations under the Antiquities Act"
National Park Service Office of Public Affairs (2009). "Units in the National Park System". Last November 5, 2009. (Lists 392 NPS units by classification).

External links

Alphabetical list of places at the National Park Service website
Former National Park System Units: An Analysis
National Park Service
National Park Foundation
Parks by Date of Establishment
America's Hidden Treasures, an essay on the lesser known National Parks
[1] The National Park Travelers Club - an organization of individuals attempting to visit all units of the NPS

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