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There are many thousands of parks scattered across the United States of America. They range from tiny little neighborhood playgrounds and individual buildings of historical significance to immense tracts of wilderness and natural beauty larger than some nations. The US parks can be loosely categorized into National Parks, State Parks, Local Parks and Private Parks.
National Parks
In 1872, the US government created the first National Park when it set aside a vast tract of territory for preservation under the Yellowstone Act. In 1916, it created the National Park Service under the Federal Department of the Interior. Since then, the National Park Service (NPS) has established governance over 284 sites containing 83.6 million acres (34 million hectares).
Some of the areas under the NPS are called National Parks, some are called National Monuments or National Historical Sites. They range in size from tiny areas that include a single historical building to the immense 13.2 million acre Wrangell St. Elias National Park in Alaska.
Nearly every National Park includes a visitor information center staffed by friendly courteous park rangers eager to help guests enjoy their visit. Most of them also include an array of facilities such as: roads, trails, parking lots, restrooms, snackbars, restaurants, hotels, camping sites, guided tours, horse or mule rides, and educational lectures. The quantity and quality of the visitor facilities vary from park to park. The most popular parks contain the widest assortment of facilities, but they often suffer from overuse. Some of the less popular parks offer only minimal facilities.
The National Park Service maintains a large web site that provides a lot of great information about each of the parks under their control. www.nps.gov The accommodations, camping, restaurants and other tourist facilities in each park are usually managed by an outside contractor, but reservation for most can be made on the Internet via links from the NPS web pages.
National Park Passes:
A National Park Pass costs $50 per year and covers pass signee and any accompanying passengers in a private vehicle.
A Golden Eagle Seal costs an additional $15 and adds the inclusion of sites managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
A Golden Age Passport is only available to US citizens and permanent residents that have attained 62 years or older. It costs only $10 for life.
State Parks
Each of the fifty states supports a number of parks. Some of them are small recreational facilities or historic sites, while others encompass vast areas of wilderness or scenic beauty. All together, there are thousands of State Parks scattered across the USA. Some of them contain recreational facilities such as swimming, boating, hiking, tennis, camping etc. Others provide no facilities but simply preserve wilderness areas for hunting, fishing or hiking.
Local Parks
Thousands of parks are provided all across the USA by local governments. These are called City Parks, Municipal Parks or County Parks. They offer a variety of recreational facilities for the pleasure of local residents or visitors. Some of them include small tracts of wilderness.
Private Parks
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Antelope Canyon - AZ Coney Island - NY |
Silver Springs - FL Universal Studios - FL |
Walt Disney World - FL |
Amusement parks and privately owned entertainment facilities are scattered throughout the country. They usually provide specific types of amusement or entertainment. They are sometimes called Theme Parks.
Written by: Mike Leco
Top Photo: Delicate Arch in Arches National Park © USATourist.com
Park Links
The excellent National Park Service web pages: www.nps.gov
The private but excellent US National Parks Net: www.us-national-parks.net
For listings of state parks, check with the individual state tourist offices on our Tourist Information page. www.usatourist.com/english/tips/touristoffices.html
