Ever wonder which parks are the oldest and which are the newest? This list captures the date each park was established by law as a national park. Keep in mind some have been in the National Park System for longer because they were national monuments before they were national parks. What’s the difference between a national park and a national monument? Find out here.
National Park Birthdays (oldest to youngest)
| National Park | Birthday |
| Yellowstone | March 1,1872 |
| Sequoia | September 25, 1890 |
| Yosemite | October 31, 1890 |
| Mount Ranier | March 2,1899 |
| Crater Lake | May 22, 1902 |
| Wind Cave | January 9, 1903 |
| Mesa Verde | June 29, 1906 |
| Glacier | May 11, 1910 |
| Rocky Mountain | January 26, 1915 |
| Haleakala | August 1, 1916 |
| Hawaii Volcanoes | August 1, 1916 |
| Lassen Volcanic | August 9, 1916 |
| Denali | February 26, 1917 |
| Acadia | February 26, 1919 |
| Grand Canyon | February 26, 1919 |
| Zion | November 19, 1919 |
| Hot Springs | March 4, 1921 |
| Bryce Canyon | September 15, 1928 |
| Grand Teton | February 26, 1929 |
| Carlsbad Caverns | May 14, 1930 |
| Great Smoky Mountains | June 15, 1934 |
| Shenandoah | December 26, 1935 |
| Olympic | June 29, 1938 |
| Kings Canyon | March 4, 1940 |
| Isle Royale | April 3, 1940 |
| Mammoth Cave | July 1, 1941 |
| Big Bend | June 12, 1944 |
| Everglades | December 6, 1947 |
| Virgin Islands | August 2, 1956 |
| Petrified Forest | December 9, 1962 |
| Canyonlands | September 12, 1964 |
| North Cascades | October 2, 1968 |
| Redwood | October 2, 1968 |
| Arches | November 12, 1971 |
| Capitol Reef | December 18, 1971 |
| Guadalupe Mountains | September 30, 1972 |
| Voyageurs | April 8, 1975 |
| Badlands | November 10, 1978 |
| Theodore Roosevelt | November 10, 1978 |
| Channel Islands | March 5, 1980 |
| Biscayne | June 28, 1980 |
| Gates of the Arctic | December 2, 1980 |
| Glacier Bay | December 2, 1980 |
| Katmai | December 2, 1980 |
| Kenai Fjords | December 2, 1980 |
| Kobuk Valley | December 2, 1980 |
| Lake Clark | December 2, 1980 |
| Wrangell-St. Elias | December 2, 1980 |
| Great Basin | October 27, 1986 |
| Dry Tortugas | October 26, 1992 |
| American Samoa | January 1, 1993 |
| Saguaro | October 14, 1994 |
| Death Valley | October 31, 1994 |
| Joshua Tree | October 31, 1994 |
| Black Canyon of the Gunnison | October 21, 1999 |
| Cuyahoga Valley | October 11, 2000 |
| Congaree | November 10, 2003 |
| Great Sand Dunes | September 13, 2004 |
| Pinnacles | January 10, 2013 |
| Gateway Arch | February 22, 2018 |
| Indiana Dunes | February 15, 2019 |
| White Sands | December 20, 2019 |
| New River Gorge | December 27, 2020 |
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