Conserves fine tracts of the Sonoran Desert, including ranges of significant hills, the Tucson Mountains in the west and the Rincon Mountains in the east. The park gets its name from the cactus which is native to the region.
Saguaro, Arizona (1994)
Contains the highest point in Texas at 8,749 feet (2,667 m) in elevation. It also contains El Capitan, long used as a landmark by people traveling along the old route later followed by the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line.
Guadalupe Mountains, Texas (1966)
Derives its name from the dry and mountainous region between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. It is notable for its groves of ancient bristlecone pines, the oldest known living things, and for the Lehman Caves at the base of Wheeler Peak which at 13,063 feet is the second highest peak in Nevada.
Great Basin, Nevada (1986)
One of the most popular destinations in the park is Cascade Pass, which was used as a travel route by Native Americans.
North Cascades, Washington (1968)
A national park that is distributed across three separate islands: Tutuila, Ofu, and Tau.
National Park of American Samoa (1988)
The hottest and driest of the national parks in the United States and contains the second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at Badwater, which is 282 feet (86 m) below sea level.
Death Valley, California (1994)
Preserves much of Mount Desert Island, and associated smaller islands, off the Atlantic coast of Maine.
Acadia, Maine (1919)
Name is an ancient Hebrew word meaning a place of refuge or sanctuary. For many visitors, the highlight of the park is a trip to the Temple of Sinawava.
Zion, Utah (1919)
Encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Piedmont region of Virginia. The park is best known for Skyline Drive. Name was thought to meant many things, but the currently accepted version is 'Daughter of the Stars.'
Shenandoah, Virginia (1935)
Within the park lies a gorge of the Colorado River, considered to be one of the major natural wonders of the world.
Grand Canyon, Arizona (1919)
Has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States.
Big Bend, Texas (1944)
Named for a US President, who owned and worked for a few years on a ranch now preserved in the park.
Theodore Roosevelt, North Dakota (1978)
Located on the island of Maui in the state of Hawaii. The name is a Hawaiian name that means "house of the sun."
Haleakala, Hawaii (1916)
The park preserves a bay that is one of the top scuba diving areas in the United States. Ninety-five percent of the park is water. Elliott Key, the park's largest island, is considered the first of the true Florida Keys being formed from coral reef.
Biscayne, Florida (1980)
Consists of five islands off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The islands within the park extend along the southern California coast from Point Conception near Santa Barbara to San Clemente Island, southwest of Los Angeles.
Channel Islands, California (1980)
Preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States. Located in South Carolina, the 22,000 acre (89 km²) site is one of America's smallest national parks.
Congaree, South Carolina (2003)
The park encompasses diverse environments that range from sea level to the summit of the earth's most massive volcano, Mauna Loa at 13,677 feet. Kîlauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, offers scientists insights on the birth of the Hawaiian Islands and visitors' views of dramatic volcanic landscapes.
Hawaii Volcanoes, Hawaii (1916)
NP in Colorado that gets its name on account of its steepness. This steepness makes it difficult for sunlight to penetrate very far down the canyon. As a result, the walls of the canyon are most often draped in shadows, causing the rocky walls to appear black.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado (1999)
It was listed as a Wetland of International Importance in 1987. The famous Anhinga Trail is within the park.
Everglades, Florida (1947)
The highest point in the Cascade Range, around it are valleys, waterfalls, subalpine wildflower meadows, old growth forest and more than 26 glaciers. Carbon Glacier is the largest glacier by volume in the continental United States, while Emmons Glacier is the largest glacier by area.
Mount Rainier, Washington (1899)
Protects 45% of the remaining groves of the Sequoia sempervirens trees, the tallest and one of the most massive tree species on Earth.
Redwood, California (1968)
Preserves over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch. The opening scenes of the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were filmed at the park.
Arches, Utah (1971)
Has been called "the essence of Alaska", for it concentrates in a relatively small area of the Alaska Peninsula, Southwest of Anchorage, a variety of features not found together in any of the other Alaska Parks: the junction of three mountain ranges, (the Alaska Range from the North, the Aleutian Range from the South, and the park's own rugged Chigmit Mountains), two active volcanoes (Iliamna and Redoubt), a coastline with rainforests on the East (similar to South East Alaska), a plateau with tundra on the West (similar to Arctic Alaska), and turquoise lakes.
Lake Clark, Alaska (1980)
Called "Wayne Wonderland" in the 1920s by local boosters, it protects colorful canyons, ridges, buttes, and monoliths. The name comes from a line of white domes and cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, each of which looks somewhat like a famous US government building.
Capitol Reef, Utah (1971)
Famous for abundant sea life, colorful coral reefs and legends of shipwrecks and sunken treasures. The park's centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, a massive but unfinished coastal fortress. It is the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere, and is composed of over 16 million bricks.
Dry Tortugas, Florida (1992)
The park can be divided into three basic regions: the Pacific coastline, the Olympic mountains, and the temperate rainforest. A nearly unique feature of the park is the opportunity for backpacking along a beach.
Olympic, Washington (1938)
As of June 2007, it is the newest national park in the United States.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado (2004)
The largest national park in the United States by area, covering an area of 20,587 mi² (53,321 km²), or over 13 million acres (53,000 km²). It includes the second-highest peak in the country.
Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska (1980)
Features numerous ruins of homes and villages built by the ancient Pueblo people. It is best known for several spectacular cliff dwellings - including Cliff Palace, which is thought to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America. In Spanish, the name means "green table."
Mesa Verde, Colorado (1906)
The park area was included in an International Biosphere Reserve in 1986 and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bay's most famous glacier is probably the Muir Glacier, about 3 km (2 miles) wide and about 80 m (265 feet) tall.
Glacier Bay, Alaska (1980)
The famed Going-to-the-Sun Road, a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, traverses through the heart of the park and crosses the Continental Divide, allowing visitors breathtaking views of the rugged Lewis and Livingston mountain ranges. Borders Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada - the two parks were designated as the world's first International Peace Park in 1932.
Glacier, Montana (1910)
Located in northeastern Arizona, along Interstate 40 between Holbrook and Navajo. The park consists of two large areas connected by a north-south corridor and the northern area encompasses part of the multihued badlands of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation known as the Painted Desert.
Petrified Forest, Arizona (1962)
The park is contiguous to Sequoia National Park. Preserves several groves of giant sequoia including the General Grant Grove, with the famous General Grant Tree, and the Redwood Mountain Grove, which is the largest remaining natural Giant Sequoia grove in the world. Contains the deepest canyon in the United States with a maximum depth of 8,200 feet (2,4 km).
Kings Canyon, California (1940)
Contains contains Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. The name of the NP means "the great one" in the native Athabaskan language and refers to the mountain itself.
Denali, Alaska (1917)
Contains the world's richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating 23 to 35 million years old. The Stronghold Unit is co-managed with the Oglala Sioux tribe and includes sites of 1890s Ghost Dances and a former United States Air Force bomb and gunnery range. Wounded Knee is located approximately 45 miles south of the park on Pine Ridge Reservation.
Badlands, South Dakota (1978)
Became the world's first national park on March 1, 1872. Located mostly in the U.S. state of Wyoming, the park extends into Montana and Idaho. The park is known for its wildlife and geothermal features; the Old Faithful Geyser is one of the most popular features in the park.
Yellowstone, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana (1872)
Encompasses a lake's caldera, which rests in the remains of a destroyed volcano posthumously called Mount Mazama. With a max. depth of 1,958 feet (597 m), it the deepest lake in the US and the seventh deepest in the world. Distinctive features include the Phantom Ship and Wizard Island.
Crater Lake, Oregon (1902)
The dominant feature of the park is ___ Peak; the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southern-most volcano in the Cascade Range.
Lassen Volcanic, California (1916) ("Lassen")
Internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and biological diversity. Contains the highest waterfall in North America.
Yosemite, California (1890)
The smallest national park by area in the United States. Contains the grandest collection of bathhouses of its kind in North America, including many outstanding examples of Gilded Age architecture.
Hot Springs, Arkansas (1921)
National Park in Utah known for its unique red hoodoo formations.
Bryce Canyon, Utah (1928)
Over 9 million tourists and 11 million non-recreational visitors traveled to the park were recorded in 2003, double that of any other national park. Cades Cove is the single most frequented destination in the national park.
Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina, Tennessee (1934)
Covers approximately 60% of the island of Saint John. Most famous attraction is Trunk Bay which sports a white sand beach and underwater snorkeling trail.
Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands (1956)
Located in the Guadalupe Mountains of the southeastern corner of New Mexico. Take its name from Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, meaning literally, Charles' Baths, in German.
Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico (1930)
Noted for its Great ___ Sand Dunes and caribou migration routes.
Kobuk Valley, Alaska (1980)
The park's name commemorates the colorful French Canadian fur traders who were the first European settlers to frequently travel through the area. The park is notable for its outstanding water resources and is popular with canoeists, kayakers, other boaters and fishermen.
Voyageurs, Minnesota (1975)
The park lies just north of, and is entirely within, the Arctic Circle. A large part of the park is preserved as a wilderness area; some 11,321 mi² (29,322 km²) of wilderness which with the adjoining Noatak Wilderness Area forms the largest contiguous wilderness in the United States.
Gates of the Arctic, Alaska (1980)
Means "Crooked River" in Mohawk. Only national park in Ohio.
Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio (2000)
Mainly made up from the largest island in Lake Superior.
Isle Royale, Michigan (1940)
Notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and for its brown bears. The park is named after its centerpiece mountain which is a stratovolcano.
Katmai, Alaska (1980)
This area was once home of the Ancestral Puebloan Indians of which many traces can be found, most notably on the so-called Newspaper Rock near the Visitor Center at the entrance of this district. The Horseshoe Canyon unit contains large panels of rock art made by hunter-gatherers of the Late Archaic Period who predated the Ancestral Puebloans. The most notable panel in the canyon is named the Great Gallery.
Canyonlands, Utah (1964)
The park contains the Harding Icefield, one of the largest ice fields in the United States.
Kenai Fjords, Alaska (1980)
Named by a French trapper who called them ___, French slang for "nipples" (presumably referring to the shape of the peaks).
Grand Teton, Wyoming (1929) ("Tetons")
The park is split by the Continental Divide, which gives the eastern and western portions of the park a different character. The park headquarters, Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, is a National Historic Landmark, designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin West. The highest point of the park is the popular Longs Peak.
Rocky Mountain, Colorado (1915)
The third NP to be formed in the USA, after only Yellowstone and the now-decommissioned Mackinac National Park in Michigan. Contains among its natural resources the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States, Mount Whitney. The park is most famous for its General Sherman tree, the largest tree on Earth.
Sequoia, California (1890)
The most elongated cave system known in the world.
Mammoth Cave, Kentucky (1941)
First cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world. Notable for its displays of the calcite formation known as boxwork. Above ground, the park includes the largest remaining natural mixed-grass prairie in the United States.
Wind Cave, South Dakota (1903)
The park includes parts of two deserts, Colarado and Mojave. Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the Yucca brevifolia tree, from which the park gets its name.
Joshua Tree, California (1994)