Largest National Parks in the United States

Largest National Parks in the United States The United States is one of the worlds largest countries based on the area with a total of 3,794,100 square miles (9,826,675 sq km) spread out over 50 different states. Much of this land is developed into large cities or urban areas like Los Angeles, California, and Chicago, Illinois, but a large portion of it is protected from development via national parks and other federally protected areas that are monitored by the National Park Service that was created in 1916 by the Organic Act. The first national parks to be founded in the U.S. were Yellowstone (1872) followed by Yosemite and Sequoia (1890).In total, the U.S. has almost 400 different nationally protected areas today that range from large national parks to smaller national historic sites, monuments and seashores. The following is a list of the 20 largest national parks out of the 55 in the U.S. For reference their locations and date of founding have also been included. Largest National Parks in the United States 1) Wrangell-St. Elias Area: 13,005 square miles (33,683 sq km) Location: Alaska Year of Formation: 1980 2) Gates of the Arctic Area: 11,756 square miles (30,448 sq km) Location: Alaska Year of Formation: 19803) Denali Area: 7,408 square miles (19,186 sq km) Location: Alaska Year of Formation: 19174) Katmai Area: 5,741 square miles (14,870 sq km) Location: Alaska Year of Formation: 19805) Death Valley Area: 5,269 square miles (13,647 sq km) Location: California, Nevada Year of Formation: 19946) Glacier Bay Area: 5,038 square miles (13,050 sq km) Location: Alaska Year of Formation: 19807) Lake Clark Area: 4,093 square miles (10,602 sq km) Location: Alaska Year of Formation: 19808) Yellowstone Area: 3,468 square miles (8,983 sq km) Location: Wyoming, Montana, Idaho Year of Formation: 18729) Kobuk Valley Area: 2,735 square miles (7,085 sq km) Location: Alaska Year of Formation: 198010) Everglades Area: 2,357 square miles (6,105 sq km) Location: Florida Year of Formation: 193411) Grand Canyon Area: 1,902 square miles (4,927 sq km) Location: Arizona Year of Formation: 191912) Glacier Area: 1 ,584 square miles (4,102 sq km) Location: Montana Year of Formation: 191013) Olympic Area: 1,442 square miles (3,734 sq km) Location: Washington Year of Formation: 193814) Big Bend Area: 1,252 square miles (3,242 sq km) Location: Texas Year of Formation: 194415) Joshua Tree Area: 1,234 square miles (3,196 sq km) Location: California Year of Formation 199416) Yosemite Area: 1,189 square miles (3,080 sq km) Location: California Year of Formation: 189017) Kenai Fjords Area: 1,047 square miles (2,711 sq km) Location: Alaska Year of Formation: 198018) Isle Royale Area: 893 square miles (2,314 sq km) Location: Michigan Year of Formation: 193119) The Great Smoky Mountains Area: 814 square miles (2,110 sq km) Location: North Carolina, Tennessee Year of Formation: 193420) North Cascades Area: 789 square miles (2,043 sq km) Location: Washington Year of Formation: 1968To learn more about National Parks in the United States, visit the official website of the National Park Service. ReferencesWikipedia.org. (2 May 2011). List of National Parks of the United States - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Parks_of_the_United_States