The United States is home to 63 national parks today, a designation reserved for the most exceptional sites within the system managed by the National Park Service (NPS). These protected areas represent a mosaic of unique landscapes: geysers and hot springs, dizzying canyons, giant sequoia forests, deserts, glaciers, and coastlines. Together, they cover millions of acres and welcome hundreds of millions of visitors every year.
The world’s first national park was Yellowstone, established on March 1, 1872, by a law signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. The law designated it as “a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,” withdrawing it from any possibility of settlement or commercial exploitation. A precedent existed with the Yosemite Grant of 1864 (which entrusted the valley to the State of California), but Yellowstone was the first true federal national park.
Why create them? The objective, formalized in 1916 by the Organic Act that established the National Park Service, is twofold: to conserve the scenery, natural and historic objects, and wildlife, while allowing the public to enjoy them in a manner that leaves them unimpaired for future generations. National parks thus serve as sanctuaries of biodiversity, scientific laboratories, places of education, and recreational spaces accessible to all. They also embody a pioneering idea of conservation that has inspired the entire world.
California has the largest number (9), followed by Alaska (8). From the Grand Canyon to Acadia, from Zion to the Everglades, these territories remain a powerful symbol of America’s natural and cultural heritage.
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