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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.
Contents
- Existing national parks
- National monuments
- National preserves
- National historical parks
- National historic sites
- National memorials
- National recreation areas
- National seashores
- National lakeshores
- National rivers
- National historic and scenic trails
- National cemeteries
- National heritage areas
- Other NPS protected areas and administrative groups
- Disbanded other areas
- References
As of January 2017, there are 417 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 because of 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.
Existing national parks
There are 59 officially designated national parks in the United States and its dependent areas.
National monuments
As of 2017, there are 129 U.S. national monuments, 88 of which are administered by the NPS and are listed below. The remaining 40 monuments are administered by five other federal agencies. Two, Grand Canyon-Parashant and Craters of the Moon National Monuments, are jointly administered by the NPS and the BLM, and World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument is joint with the Fish and Wildlife Service.
National preserves
There are 20 national preserves.
National historical parks
There are 51 national historical parks.
National historic sites
The National Park Service administers the national historic sites, with the exception of Grey Towers National Historic Site (managed by the U.S. Forest Service) and Fort Craig National Historic Site (managed by the Bureau of Land Management).
There are 89 national historic sites, of which 78 are NPS units and 11 are affiliated areas.
National memorials
There are 30 national memorials that are NPS units and five affiliated national memorials.
National recreation areas
There are 18 national recreation areas administered by the National Park Service.
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 historic and scenic trails
These National Park Service trails are part of the larger National Trails System. Only three 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.
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.