National Parks Of The United States

 

National Parks Of The United States
by Rob Cottignies

As of January 10, 2021, there are 61 national parks within U.S. states. (American Samoa and the Virgin Islands are parks in American territories.)

Founded in 1916 under President Woodrow Wilson, the National Park Service serves and protects these areas so people and wildlife alike can enjoy them.

The list below names the national parks (not national forests, historical parks, etc.) in the 50 United States alphabetically, along with their locations, founding dates, and the meanings behind their names.

Of course, travel is weird right now but to look into obtaining a pass to any or all of these magnificent places, follow this link.

ACADIA
south-eastern Maine, near the town of Bar Harbor
Established in 1919, Acadia National Park contains Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak along the eastern coast of the U.S.
‘Acadia’ was the name of a French colony which included Maine’s territory

ARCHES
east-central Utah, just north of the city of Moab
Established in 1971, the park features over 2,000 sandstone arches, hence the name.

BADLANDS
south-western South Dakota
Established in 1978, this intimidating and other-worldly landscape has been the backdrop of major films like Armageddon and Starship Troopers.
‘Badlands’ is a term translated from the Lakota language describing an area with harsh terrain and weather.

BIG BEND

south-western Texas

Established in 1944, the park includes part of the Chihuahuan Desert and the Rio Grande river, which has a large bend in it.

BISCAYNE

northern end of the Florida Keys, just south of Miami

Established in 1980, this part of Biscayne Bay displays very clear water and marine life such as pelicans and coral reefs.

‘Biscayne’ is a nickname of unknown origin for the Basque people of Spain, which formerly controlled the region of Florida.

BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON

west-central Colorado

Established in 1999, the rock along the Gunnison River has a black hue.

John W. Gunnison explored many places in Colorado in the 1800s.

BRYCE CANYON

south-central Utah

Established in 1928, there is technically no canyon here but a large series of natural amphitheaters and unique stone formations.

Property in the area was developed in 1874 by Ebenezer Bryce.

CANYONLANDS

south-eastern Utah

Established in 1964, several rivers have carved many canyons (and other forms) into the landscape.

The word ‘canyon’ comes from the Spanish word ‘cañon’, meaning ‘a narrow valley between cliffs’.

CAPITOL REEF

south-central Utah

Established in 1971, this park has many sandstone domes which resemble the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

‘Reef’ was a nickname given to the area by prospectors who found the waters difficult to navigate.

CARLSBAD CAVERNS

far south-eastern New Mexico, 90 miles south of Roswell

Established in 1930, the Carlsbad Caverns are a huge system of caves underneath the Chihuahuan Desert led to by a daunting entranceway.

The nearby city of Carlsbad was founded by Charles B. Eddy, who named it with the German word Karlsbad, which translates to ‘Charles’s bath’.

CHANNEL ISLANDS

off the coast of south-western California, due west of Los Angeles

Established in 1980, this park contains five of the eight Channel Islands, sometimes nicknamed ‘California’s Galapagos’.

The native Chumash people named the islands but I could not find why.

CONGAREE

central South Carolina, 17 miles south-east of the capital Columbia

Established in 2003, this park along the Congaree River includes some of the tallest trees in the eastern United States.

The Congaree people inhabited the area before succumbing to smallpox, war, or merging with larger Native American tribes.

CRATER LAKE

south-western Oregon

Established in 1902, the deepest lake in the United States lies in a caldera (collapsed volcano) called Mount Mazama. The bowl left by the collapse resembles a crater.

CUYAHOGA VALLEY

northern Ohio, 20 miles south of Cleveland

Established in 2000, this park along the Cuyahoga River has natural and human-made structures, such as wooden houses and bridges.

‘Cuyahoga’ comes from the Iroquois meaning ‘crooked river’.

DEATH VALLEY

east-central California, along the border with Nevada

Established in 1994, the Death Valley desert region recorded the world’s highest temperature of 131.4°F (~ 55°C) in 1913.
Its grim name comes from 19^th-century pioneers who got lost there and thought they were doomed. (Only one died in the area.)

DENALI

central Alaska

Established in 1917, this huge park contains North America’s highest peak, formerly called Mount McKinley.

‘Denali’ means ‘the great one’ in the native Koyukon language.

DRY TORTUGAS

westernmost end of the Florida Keys

Established in 1992, Dry Tortugas is home to the Civil War post of Fort Jefferson along with coral reefs and shipwrecks.

‘Tortugas’ is the Spanish word for ‘turtles’, which are abundant in the area. ‘Dry’ was added to let sailors know the region had no drinking water.

EVERGLADES

southern tip of Florida

Established in 1934, the Everglades is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States.

Early explorers of the area named it such because the glades (grass) seemed to go on forever.

GATES OF THE ARCTIC

north-central Alaska

Established in 1980, America’s northernmost national park is entirely above the Arctic Circle and has no typical park facilities, such as toilets and campsites.

The park’s area was given its name in 1929 by conservationist Robert Marshall, who saw it as a good path toward the coast of the Arctic Ocean at the top of Alaska.

GATEWAY ARCH

next to the Mississippi River in Saint Louis, Missouri

Established in 2018, one of the only human-made national parks honors the famous westward expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. It is also the smallest national park.

Saint Louis has been called the ‘Gateway to the West’, giving the arch its name.

GLACIER

far north-western Montana

Established in 1910, Glacier National Park abuts Canada’s Waterton National Park.

The park famously holds 26 accessible glaciers, hence the name.

GLACIER BAY

far south-eastern Alaska, near Juneau

Established in 1980, this area was covered in glaciers when discovered but their retreat has exposed the bay underneath.

GRAND CANYON

a day trip from Las Vegas in northern Arizona

Established in 1919, this 277-mile-long canyon was carved by the Colorado River.

GRAND TETON

north-western Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone

Established in 1929, Grand Teton is the tallest mountain in the Teton Range, though the park features many other mountains as well as lakes and wildlife.

‘Teton’ comes from a French word meaning ‘nipple’.

GREAT BASIN

eastern Nevada

Established in 1986, this vast lowland surrounding Wheeler Peak has some of the darkest skies for star-gazing in the United States.

GREAT SAND DUNES

south-central Colorado

Established in 2004, this park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America.

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS

shared by eastern Tennessee & western North Carolina

Established in 1934, the most-visited U.S. National Park features 71 miles of the Appalachian Trail along with its highest peak, Clingmans Dome.

Large amounts of fog make the expansive mountainous area appear smoky.

GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS

western Texas, south of the border with New Mexico

Established in 1966, the park’s Guadalupe Peak is the highest point in Texas.

‘Guadalupe’ is a common Spanish place name and comes from an Arabic word meaning ‘wolf valley’.

HALEAKALĀ

the island of Maui in Hawai’i

Established in 1961, the park is named for its famous volcano and the surrounding area is home to the most protected species in the National Park network.

Haleakalā is a Hawaiian word meaning ‘house of the Sun’.

HAWAI’I VOLCANOES

the island of Hawai’i (the Big Island) in Hawai’i

Established in 1916, this park includes active volcanoes such as Kilauea (‘spewing’) and Mauna Loa (‘long mountain’).

‘Hawai’i’ comes from several Polynesian languages and generally means ‘homeland’. ‘Volcano’ is based on the Roman god of fire, Vulcan.

HOT SPRINGS

next to the city of Hot Springs in central Arkansas

Established in 1921, the first national park within a city contains buildings from the 1800s and is named for its numerous natural hot springs.

INDIANA DUNES

the southern shore of Lake Michigan in north-western Indiana

Established in 2019, this park in Indiana has many sand dunes.

ISLE ROYALE

the north-western part of Lake Superior in Michigan

Established in 1940, this island (and 400+ smaller ones) in the world’s largest freshwater lake (by surface area) is known for shipwrecks and unique animal relationships.

Isle Royale is French for ‘royal island’ and was named by missionaries to honor French royalty.

JOSHUA TREE

southern California, 130 miles east of Los Angeles

Established in 1994, this park is famous for its population of Joshua trees and its noticeable changes in elevation and, therefore, environment.

According to legend, Joshua trees were named after the leader of Israel after Moses died.

KATMAI

south-central Alaska near Kodiak Island

Established in 1980, this park is popular for visitors to watch grizzly bears catching salmon swimming up-river, among other natural sights.

There is a volcano within the park called Mount Katmai. I could find no information on the word ‘Katmai’ but the mountain was sacred to the Alutiiq people and their descendants.

KENAI FJORDS

near the town of Seward in south-central Alaska

Established in 1980, most of these fjords and glaciers are only accessible by boat.

‘Kenai’ is thought to mean ‘flat land’ or ‘black bear’ in the Athabaskan language. A ‘fjord’ is defined as ‘a long, narrow inlet of the sea between high cliffs’ and is a word from Old Norse.

KINGS CANYON

east-central California

Established in 1940, the canyon was carved by the Kings River, which was once known in Spanish as ‘Rio de los Reyes Santos’, meaning ‘river of the holy kings’.

KOBUK VALLEY

north-western Alaska

Established in 1980, the home of the largest sand dunes within the Arctic and a huge caribou population also protects the Kobuk River and many glaciers.

‘Kobuk’ is an Inupiaq Eskimo word meaning ‘big river’.

LAKE CLARK

south-central Alaska

Established in 1980, this park features four active volcanoes and many other highlights surrounding its namesake lake.

John W. Clark was an Alaskan businessman who an explorer named the area for, ignoring the native name Qiz’jeh Vena, meaning ‘lake where many people gather’, which was already in place.

LASSEN VOLCANIC

northern California

Established in 1916, this park containing the world’s largest dome volcano and other types of active volcanoes is a hotbed for hydrothermal activity.

Peter Lassen was a Danish blacksmith who established an important route through the local mountains.

MAMMOTH CAVE

southern Kentucky

Established in 1941, the world’s longest cave system has plenty of underground features.

‘Mammoth’ describes the great size of the cave and has nothing to do with the wooly pre-historic creature.

MESA VERDE

south-western Colorado

Established in 1906, this park protects cliff dwellings and other structures built centuries ago by the Pueblo people.

When Spanish explorers discovered the area, they noticed many flatlands covered with green trees. ‘Mesa Verde’ is Spanish for ‘green table’.

MOUNT RAINIER

western Washington, 90 miles south of Seattle

Established in 1899, this park in the Cascade Mountains features an active volcano and an area called Paradise, the snowiest (measured) place on Earth.

In 1792, George Vancouver spotted the mountain and named it after his friend Admiral Peter Rainier, though the native Salish tribe called it ‘Tahoma’, their word for ‘mountain’.

NEW RIVER GORGE

southern West Virginia

Established in 2020, America’s newest national park protects the area around the New River, including many scenic views and a ghost town.

The New River has gone through many name changes in its history and nobody knows for sure why it has the current moniker. One accepted (and simple) theory is a map-maker described it as ‘new’ because he never saw it before. ‘Gorge’ is another word for ‘canyon’, though gorges are often smaller.

NORTH CASCADES

Cascade Mountains of north-central Washington

Established in 1968, this park contains most glaciers in the contiguous (“lower 48”) United States.

A ‘cascade’ is a waterfall with several levels rather than a straight drop.

OLYMPIC

western Washington, 51 miles from the capital Olympia

Established in 1938, this park features many ecosystems such as shorelines, the Olympic Mountains, and rainforests which comprise the wettest area in the contiguous United States.

Naming the mountains ‘Olympic’ was a reference to an area important to Greek culture and mythology. (There is a Mount Olympus in Washington as well.)

PETRIFIED FOREST

surrounded by the Painted Desert in eastern Arizona

Established in 1962, this park contains an enormous concentration of fossilized wood and multi-colored rock formations.

PINNACLES

west-central California

Established in 2013, Pinnacles National Park features many rock formations and one of the few remaining habitats for the endangered California condor.

Part of an extinct volcano left pinnacle-like structures on the land, giving the park its name.

REDWOOD

far north-western California

Established in 1968, this park (along with Redwood State Parks) protects the world’s tallest trees, which have a red tint.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN

north-central Colorado

Established in 1915, this portion of the Rocky Mountains chain is known for its jagged peaks and varying environments and wildlife.

SAGUARO

south-central Arizona, 13 miles north-west of Tucson

Established in 1994, Saguaro is in the Sonoran Desert and is named for a species of giant cactus.

SEQUOIA

southern Sierra Nevada mountains in central California

Established in 1890, this park contains the largest (not tallest) tree in the world (General Sherman) and the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states (Mount Whitney).

‘Sequoia’ means ‘sparrow’ in Cherokee and was the name of the tribesman who created their written language.

SHENANDOAH

northern Virginia

Established in 1935, this park harbors the Blue Ridge Mountains and 115.5 miles of the Appalachian Trail.

Shenandoah was an Algonquian leader whose name is suspected to mean ‘spruce river’, due to the abundance of spruce trees and rivers in the Virginia area.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

far western North Dakota

Established in 1978, this region in the northern badlands of the Dakotas was the inspiration for America’s 26^th president to begin legally preserving natural areas.

VOYAGEURS

north-central Minnesota

Established in 1975, four lakes and much history are preserved within this park.

French-Canadian fur traders in the area were known as ‘voyageurs’.

WHITE SANDS

south-central New Mexico

Established in 2019, the white sand dunes are comprised of gypsum crystals.

WIND CAVE

south-western South Dakota

Established in 1903, this cave system houses types of rock formations found nowhere else with diverse wildlife in the prairie above it.

The park has been referred to as ‘Wind Cave’ because fast winds frequently blow into and out of the entrance.

WRANGELL - SAINT ELIAS

south-eastern Alaska

Established in 1980, America’s largest national park is home to three mountain ranges, volcanoes, and an abundance of glaciers.

Ferdinand von Wrangell was an important administrator in the Alaskan territory before its sale to the United States. Elias is the English name for the biblical figure Saint Elijah and the mountain bearing his name was discovered on the day of his feast.

YELLOWSTONE

mostly in far northwestern Wyoming with parts in Idaho and Montana

Established in 1872, the world’s first national park sits atop a stratovolcano (also called a ‘super-volcano’), resulting in geothermal areas like hot springs, geysers (Old Faithful is a famous one), and boiling mud pots.

The park contains its own ‘Grand Canyon’, which lines the Yellowstone river with yellow sandstone rocks, giving the park its name.

YOSEMITE

east-central California

Established in 1890, Yosemite features high waterfalls and famous rock formations such as Half Dome and El Capitan.

‘Yosemite’ was the name given to the native Miwok people by explorers based on their word which meant either ‘grizzly bear’, ‘killer’, or possibly both since they were known for killing grizzly bears.

ZION

far south-western Utah

Established in 1919, this park is home to many sandstone rock formations and varied ecosystems because of the Virgin River.

The Paiute tribe called the region ‘Munkutuweap’, meaning ‘straight canyon’. Mormon explorer Isaac Behunin renamed it ‘Zion’, the Hebrew word meaning ‘sanctuary’.

 

 

Thanks to these websites for assisting in my research: google.com, Wikipedia.org, nps.gov, grc.nasa.gov, Britannica.com, national-park.com, roadtrippers.com