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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