National Parks of the United States

Since Yellowstone became the first National Park in 1872, the United States has set aside hundreds of federal lands for both conservation and public enjoyment, but only a select few become National Parks through an act of Congress. As of 2020, there are 62 total parks, each with their own story. Explore the map and get to know them better!

Pan or search for a particular park, then click on each park to get facts and pictures. Turn on and hover over Points of Interest and Best Trails to get more information on popular sites. Use the sliders at the bottom to see which parks existed or were added during each presidential term, moving backwards or forwards through time.

Spatial data courtesy of the National Park Service Open Data page. Some features digitized using official NPS georeferenced maps. Points of Interest and Trail Rankings compiled with help of the National Park Service, Trip Advisor and All Trails. Photos from National Parks Service and Wikipedia contributors, under Creative Commons license. Created for UW-Madison, Geog. 575 in Fall 2020, by Greg Grube, Emily Johansen and Daniel Rau.