Independent guides to the U.S. national parks

List of U.S. national parks

Practical guide · Data: National Park Service · 63 parks

The United States has 63 national parks, from Yellowstone, the world’s first national park in 1872, to New River Gorge, designated in 2020. This list brings them all together, with the state each one sits in, its area, dominant climate, year established, annual visitation and entrance fee. Sort the table, filter by state or region, then open the guide of the park you have in mind.

Below the table, the map of the U.S. national parks places them at a glance, and the seven regions tell you what to expect in each. Sixty-three parks, sixty-two guides: Sequoia and Kings Canyon, adjoining and jointly managed, share one.

All 63 U.S. national parks in one table

Click a header to sort that column. Areas are those published by the National Park Service (2023), visitation counts recreation visits for 2025, and the entrance fee is the seven-day rate per vehicle, taken from the NPS API. Eleven parks also charge a non-resident surcharge: the passes and fees guide covers it.

Park State Region Area (sq mi) Climate Est. Visitors Fee
Acadia Maine East and South 77 Oceanic 4,079,318 $35
American Samoa American Samoa Hawaii and territories 13 Tropical 43,258 Free
Arches Utah Southwest 120 Desert 1,511,740 $30
Badlands South Dakota Plains and Great Lakes 379 Continental 1,139,361 $30
Big Bend Texas Southwest 1,252 Desert 568,104 $30
Biscayne Florida East and South 270 Tropical 486,567 Free
Black Canyon of the Gunnison Colorado Rocky Mountains 48 Mountain 250,086 $30
Bryce Canyon Utah Southwest 56 Desert 1,967,367 $35
Canyonlands Utah Southwest 527 Desert 796,057 $30
Capitol Reef Utah Southwest 378 Desert 1,388,476 $20
Carlsbad Caverns New Mexico Southwest 73 Desert 410,778 $15 / person
Channel Islands California West Coast and California 390 Oceanic 227,186 Free
Congaree South Carolina East and South 42 Temperate 287,833 Free
Crater Lake Oregon West Coast and California 286 Mountain 632,242 $30
Cuyahoga Valley Ohio Plains and Great Lakes 51 Continental 3,025,325 Free
Death Valley California, Nevada West Coast and California 5,326 Desert 1,320,134 $30
Denali Alaska Alaska 7,408 Subarctic 543,300 $15 / person
Dry Tortugas Florida East and South 101 Tropical 89,355 $15 / person
Everglades Florida East and South 2,358 Tropical 778,198 $35
Gates of the Arctic Alaska Alaska 11,756 Subarctic 14,923 Free
Gateway Arch Missouri Plains and Great Lakes 0.3 Continental 2,209,028 Free
Glacier Montana Rocky Mountains 1,583 Mountain 3,136,557 $35
Glacier Bay Alaska Alaska 5,037 Subarctic 740,044 Free
Grand Canyon Arizona Southwest 1,878 Desert 4,430,653 $35
Grand Teton Wyoming Rocky Mountains 484 Mountain 3,800,648 $35
Great Basin Nevada West Coast and California 121 Mountain 161,210 Free
Great Sand Dunes Colorado Rocky Mountains 168 Desert 432,498 $25
Great Smoky Mountains North Carolina, Tennessee East and South 816 Temperate 11,527,939 Free
Guadalupe Mountains Texas Southwest 135 Desert 206,423 $10 / person
Haleakalā Hawaii Hawaii and territories 52 Tropical 853,711 $30
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Hawaii Hawaii and territories 539 Tropical 1,877,854 $30
Hot Springs Arkansas East and South 8.7 Temperate 2,494,611 Free
Indiana Dunes Indiana Plains and Great Lakes 24 Continental 2,629,497 $25
Isle Royale Michigan Plains and Great Lakes 893 Continental 29,091 $7 / person
Joshua Tree California West Coast and California 1,242 Desert 2,932,644 $30
Katmai Alaska Alaska 5,741 Subarctic 34,479 Free
Kenai Fjords Alaska Alaska 1,046 Subarctic 425,369 Free
Kings Canyon California West Coast and California 722 Mountain 779,791 $35
Kobuk Valley Alaska Alaska 2,735 Subarctic 7,786 Free
Lake Clark Alaska Alaska 4,093 Subarctic 19,778 Free
Lassen Volcanic California West Coast and California 167 Mountain 504,777 $30
Mammoth Cave Kentucky East and South 113 Temperate 660,734 Free
Mesa Verde Colorado Rocky Mountains 82 Desert 463,130 $30
Mount Rainier Washington West Coast and California 369 Mountain 1,635,342 $30
New River Gorge West Virginia East and South 11 Temperate 1,958,440 Free
North Cascades Washington West Coast and California 789 Mountain 46,925 Free
Olympic Washington West Coast and California 1,442 Oceanic 3,584,187 $30
Petrified Forest Arizona Southwest 346 Desert 315,951 $25
Pinnacles California West Coast and California 42 Temperate 343,208 $30
Redwood California West Coast and California 217 Oceanic 1,202,480 Free
Rocky Mountain Colorado Rocky Mountains 415 Mountain 4,171,431 $35
Saguaro Arizona Southwest 145 Desert 847,749 $25
Sequoia California West Coast and California 631 Mountain 1,378,337 $35
Shenandoah Virginia East and South 313 Temperate 1,682,152 $30
Theodore Roosevelt North Dakota Plains and Great Lakes 110 Continental 729,893 $30
Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Hawaii and territories 24 Tropical 471,074 Free
Voyageurs Minnesota Plains and Great Lakes 341 Continental 206,326 Free
White Sands New Mexico Southwest 229 Desert 659,742 $25
Wind Cave South Dakota Plains and Great Lakes 53 Continental 606,258 Free
Wrangell–St. Elias Alaska Alaska 13,005 Subarctic 108,840 Free
Yellowstone Wyoming, Montana, Idaho Rocky Mountains 3,468 Mountain 4,762,988 $35
Yosemite California West Coast and California 1,190 Mountain 4,278,413 $35
Zion Utah Southwest 230 Desert 4,984,525 $35

Sources: National Park Service (areas 2023, visitation 2025, entrance fees retrieved on 16 September 2026). Fees change: check nps.gov before you go.

The U.S. national parks in a few figures

What the list says once sorted: the extremes, from the same data.

Map of the U.S. national parks

Map of the 63 US national parks Map of the United States in Albers projection, with insets for Alaska, Hawaii and the overseas territories. Each park is a link to its guide. The same list is available as text below the map. Channel Islands Crater Lake Death Valley Great Basin Joshua Tree Lassen Volcanic Mount Rainier North Cascades Olympic Pinnacles Redwood Sequoia & Kings Canyon Yosemite Arches Big Bend Bryce Canyon Canyonlands Capitol Reef Carlsbad Caverns Grand Canyon Guadalupe Mountains Petrified Forest Saguaro White Sands Zion Black Canyon of the Gunnison Glacier Grand Teton Great Sand Dunes Mesa Verde Rocky Mountain Yellowstone Badlands Cuyahoga Valley Gateway Arch Indiana Dunes Isle Royale Theodore Roosevelt Voyageurs Wind Cave Acadia Biscayne Congaree Dry Tortugas Everglades Great Smoky Mountains Hot Springs Mammoth Cave New River Gorge Shenandoah Denali Gates of the Arctic Glacier Bay Katmai Kenai Fjords Kobuk Valley Lake Clark Wrangell–St. Elias American Samoa Haleakalā Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Virgin Islands

Each pin is a link to the park guide. The colour fields outline the seven regions, each listed below with its parks.

The seven regions

The split follows the geography of the parks, not administrative borders: the West holds most of them and reads in three zones, while the East, poorer in national parks, fits in one.

West Coast and California 13 parks

Coast, sequoias and volcanoes

The Pacific facade, from the Olympic rainforest to the Joshua trees of the Mojave. The richest and most contrasted region in the country: you can go from the tallest trees on Earth to the lowest land in North America in a single day of driving. Easy access from Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle.

Southwest 12 parks

Canyons and red deserts

The land of carved rock: the five Utah parks, the Grand Canyon, the deserts of New Mexico and Texas. This is where the imagery of the American road trip plays out, and where the annual pass pays for itself fastest, several of the non-resident surcharge parks being here.

Rocky Mountains 7 parks

Altitude, wildlife and pass roads

The backbone of the continent, from Yellowstone to the Colorado Rockies. Iconic wildlife, pass roads that open only in summer and drop back under snow by autumn. The region where the question of when to go bites hardest.

Plains and Great Lakes 8 parks

Badlands, caves and Great Lakes

The least visited, and not the least interesting: the Dakota badlands, the longest cave in the world in Kentucky, the wooded islands of the Great Lakes. Few crowds, long distances, and parks rarely visited for themselves that hold their own once you are there.

East and South 10 parks

Forests, Appalachians and Florida

From Acadia in Maine to the Everglades, by way of the most visited park in the country, Great Smoky Mountains. Many free entries, sharply marked seasons, and the Appalachian fall as the main event. The most accessible region from the east coast.

Alaska 8 parks

The far North, often roadless

Eight parks, several without a single access road: you enter by bush plane or boat. Short season, heavy logistics, and spaces without equal farther south. To be treated as a trip in its own right, not a stopover.

Hawaii and territories 4 parks

Volcanoes, reefs and the South Pacific

Hawaii and the territories: active volcanoes, coral reefs, tropical forests. The climate allows visits almost year round, making it the most flexible region on the calendar, and the most distant.

And then, the road

This page tells you where the parks are and how they compare. To string them into a dated route with stages and a duration, the work happens on the other side: our road trip guides cover the West, the Pacific coast, the Rockies, Alaska and Hawaii. And before you leave, the passes and fees guide settles the one real money question of the trip.

Road trips · Passes & fees