The 5 newest national parks: Where they are & when to visit

In December 2020, the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve near Fayetteville, West Virginia became The americaa.’s most newest national park.

Established by the U.S. Congress and maintained by the National Park Service, the nation’s Sixty three national parks are protected areas with national significance, representing diverse ecosystems with unparalleled natural beauty.

They have gotten been set aside for every person to enjoy, and so they are subject to different rules and regulations than other types of public land.

National parks encompass all types of terrain, including mountains, valleys, deserts, desert — even volcanoes. And even as you're ready to already be accustomed to a wonderful deal of the u . s . a .’s most well-liked national parks (like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and the Great Smoky Mountains), the 5 most newest national parks, established between 2013 and 2020, are only as spectacular — and definitely worth a seek advice from.

Related: 6 national parks outside the U.S. to feature to your bucket list

What are the 5 most newest national parks?

The u . s . a .’s most newest national parks stretch from sea to shining sea. Here they are from most newest to least:

1. New River Gorge National Park

• State: West Virginia
• Established: December 27, 2020
• Best time to seek advice from: Fall

Known for its deep canyons and rugged, whitewater river, The americaa.’s most newest national park — New River Gorge — is without problems reachable from Interstates I-64 and I-seventy nine and encompasses 70,000 acres of wooded, mountainous terrain and waterfalls.

Trails wind through old mining towns that tell the story of Appalachia. Visitors can enjoy a wonderful deal of activities including hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, world-class whitewater rafting, and tubing down the New River.

Home to white-tailed deer, black bears, snakes, turtles, salamanders, bald eagles, and peregrine falcons, the park gets reasonably crowded in the summer, but it surely experiences a more leisurely p.c. in the autumn, when the changing leaves create stunning landscapes.

Don’t leave out the park’s most iconic landmark — a mile-long steel arch bridge that spans the New River; it’s the longest in the western hemisphere and is viewable from the Canyon Rim Visitors’ Center — there’s even a wheelchair-on hand viewing deck that, on clear days, affords a glimpse deep into the gorge.

2. White Sands National Park

• State: New Mexico
• Established: December 20, 2019
• Best time to seek advice from: Spring or fall

Located in the Tularosa Basin of southern New Mexico, White Sands' otherworldly landscape positively shimmers with every gust of wind, as nearly three hundred square miles of white gypsum dunes shape-shift to spectacular effect. The easiest time to seek advice from the realm is at daybreak or sunset when the dunes take on bold red and orange hues.

Even in this harsh environment, you’ll to find that life abounds — if you happen to realize where to to find it. The park is home to jackrabbits, bobcats, frogs, salamanders, rattlesnakes, lizards, and box turtles, even white animal species that have evolved to blend in with the barren region.

Visitors can explore the stark landscape themselves on foot, through a ranger-led hike, and even by backcountry camping. The park extends its hours at some stage in full moons in the summer and offers free are living music and creative performances in its amphitheater.

But perchance one amongst the right kind methods to experience the dunes is to sled down them: You are going to be capable of p.c. your individual sled, or for around $25 (or $15 used), you're ready to buy a plastic saucer at the visitor center.

three. Indiana Dunes National Park

• State: Indiana
• Established: February 15, 2019
• Best time to seek advice from: Spring or fall

Lower than an hour’s drive from Chicago, Indiana Dunes is found on the southern shores of Lake Michigan, one amongst a really powerful freshwater lakes on this planet.

More suburban than other desert areas, Indiana Dunes features 15 miles of coastline and 50 miles of trails that traverse a bunch habitats including woodlands, wetlands, and wildflower-filled prairies.

Spring and fall are the precise times to seek advice from to keep away from the throngs of people — over two million visitors enjoy this park once a year, rivaling it in popularity to Yosemite.

Activities consist of hiking, camping, cross-u . s . a . skiing, horseback riding, swimming, and fishing on the lake or along the Calumet River, nevertheless the park is best known for its birdwatching opportunities, as the realm is a important resting spot for more than 350 species of migratory fowl.

Four. Gateway Arch National Park

• State: Missouri
• Established: February 22, 2018
• Best time to seek advice from: Wintry weather

Next to the Mississippi River in the heart of St. Louis, Gateway Arch is a ninety one-acre urban park that features the long-lasting Gateway Arch (the park's namesake), which turn into designed by Eero Saarinen in 1965 to symbolize the “Gateway to the West.”

The grounds also encompass the Old Courthouse, where pivotal Dred Scott slavery trials happened previous to the Civil War, and a museum with exhibits detailing the history of American westward expansion. For a special standpoint of the famous Arch, you're ready to hop aboard a riverboat cruise, which also departs from the park.

Nonetheless the park’s most well-liked attraction is the Arch itself — visitors also can go to the pinnacle of the 630-foot Arch by way of a Four-minute tram ride ($15 for adults). The topside viewing area offers panoramic vistas of downtown and the Mississippi River.

Wintry weather is the precise time to seek advice from, as the weather is mild and there’s in general little to no wait to take the tram to the pinnacle of the arch.

5. Pinnacles National Park

• State: California
• Established: January 10, 2013
• Best time to seek advice from: Anytime but summer

Lower than 100 miles from San Francisco and due west of the San Andreas Fault, the land that makes up Pinnacles NP turn into formed from the remnants of ancient volcanoes millions of years ago and remains to be shaped by tectonic forces.

Within this landscape of chaparral and canyons, visitors can explore striking geological wonders including rock formations and hidden caves. Camping, hiking, and rock climbing terrain are especially well known, in addition to as stargazing amongst its exceptionally clear skies.

Birdwatchers won’t would are looking to depart out the Condor Gulch Trail, where 200 species of birds may perchance possibly be seen soaring above the cliffs, from condors to prairie falcons, swallows, and even golden eagles.

With the intense summertime heat — temperatures routinely exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer in July and August — visiting the park at some stage in the fall, wintry weather, or spring months is suggested.

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A short history of The americaa.’s national parks

The National Park Service turn into formed by the Organic Act of 1916, though the u . s . a .’s first national park, Yellowstone, turn into established nearly half of a century previous to that, in 1872.

Through writing, painting, and photography, preservationists like John Muir, Nathaniel P. Langford, and Thomas Moran, among others, raised public awareness of those breathtaking areas with a purpose to supply protection to them from being developed in the nineteenth century. Between 1901 and 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt set aside 230 million acres of public lands that could later be designated as national parks, including:

• Crater Lake National Park in Oregon
• Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota
• Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado

In 1983, writer Wallace Stegner often is often called the idea that of the National Parks “The americaa.’s best idea” because they were inclusive spaces that unified people from all walks of life — something everyone may perchance possibly be pleased with.

"National parks are the precise idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best in place of our worst."

—Wallace Stegner, 1983

Related: People do not come to this national park (here is why)

A map of america' national parks

Here’s a comprehensive to know about The americaa.’s national parks:

List of The americaa.’s national parks by state

Thirty states and two U.S. territories have National Parks. California is the state with some of essentially the most national parks — nine.

Alaska

• Denali, Alaska
• Gates of the Arctic, Alaska
• Glacier Bay, Alaska
• Katmai, Alaska
• Kenai Fjords, Alaska
• Kobuk Valley, Alaska
• Lake Clark, Alaska
• Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska

American Samoa

• National Park of American Samoa, American Samoa

Arizona

• Grand Canyon, Arizona
• Petrified Woodland, Arizona
• Saguaro, Arizona

Arkansas

• Hot Springs, Arkansas

California

• Channel Islands, California
• Death Valley, California and Nevada
• Joshua Tree, California
• Kings Canyon, California
• Lassen Volcanic, California
• Pinnacles, California
• Redwood, California
• Sequoia, California
• Yosemite, California

Colorado

• Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado
• Great Sand Dunes, Colorado
• Mesa Verde, Colorado
• Rocky Mountain, Colorado

Florida

• Biscayne, Florida
• Dry Tortugas, Florida
• Everglades, Florida

Hawaii

• Haleakala, Hawaii
• |Hawai’i Volcanoes, Hawaii

Idaho

• Yellowstone, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming

Kentucky

• Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

Indiana

• Indiana Dunes

Maine

• Acadia, Maine

Michigan

• Isle Royale, Michigan

Minnesota

• Voyageurs, Minnesota

Missouri

• Gateway Arch, Missouri

Montana

• Glacier, Montana
• Yellowstone, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming

Nevada

• Death Valley, California and Nevada
• Great Basin, Nevada

New Mexico

• Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
• White Sands, New Mexico

North Dakota

• Theodore Roosevelt, North Dakota

North Carolina

• Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina and Tennessee

Ohio

• Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio

Oregon

• Crater Lake, Oregon

South Carolina

• Congaree, South Carolina

South Dakota

• Badlands, South Dakota
• Wind Cave, South Dakota

Tennessee

• Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina and Tennessee

Texas

• Big Bend, Texas
• Guadalupe Mountains, Texas

Utah

• Arches, Utah
• Bryce Canyon, Utah
• Canyonlands, Utah
• Capitol Reef, Utah
• Zion, Utah

Virgin Islands

• Virgin Islands, Virgin Islands

Virginia

• Shenandoah, Virginia

Washington

• Mount Rainier, Washington
• North Cascades, Washington
• Olympic, Washington

West Virginia

• New River Gorge, West Virginia

Wyoming

• Grand Teton, Wyoming
• Yellowstone

Source: National Park Trips

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