What draws people to national parks?

Parks help us get outside: Their existence encourages us to get out and explore the natural world. Infrastructure — from trails to interpretive signs — help make it easier. Kids come to understand that there is something bigger, something more grand, all around us.



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A bill creating the first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Mackinac National Park in 1875 (decommissioned in 1895), and then Rock Creek Park (later merged into National Capital Parks), Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890.

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The New River Gorge was given National Park Service protection in 1978 as a national river, and was expanded to New River Gorge National Park & Preserve — this country's newest national park — in the plague year of 2020 courtesy of legislation drafted by Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito.

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Congress decides whether an area should be added to the National Park System or whether some other action might be appropriate. Congression- al committees usually hold hearings on proposed additions to the System and ask the Secretary of the Interior for recommendations.

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Seven years ago, Brad Ryan and his grandmother, Joy Ryan, set out on the adventure of a lifetime — visiting all 63 U.S. National Parks. Now 41 and 92 years old, the duo will complete their journey this April in American Samoa.

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Redwood National Park The tallest known trees in the world stand in the redwood forests of the Northern California coast.

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