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