Grand Sand Dunes National Park - Photo from NP

Here is a collection of interesting national park facts to help you celebrate the National Park Service's 103rd birthday on Sun. Aug. 25.

That's the date when President Woodrow Wilson created the National Park Service Act. Since the creation of the NPS, this department now oversees more than 84 million acres of awesome natural areas and historic sites. Our parks are obviously very popular, in 2018, there were more than 318 million visitors. In 1904, there were 120,906.

The first national park established in the country is Yellowstone National Park which is located in three states - Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. That park was actually created in 1872 and in fact, is the oldest national park in the world.

Here's a birthday treat for Americans. You can visit our national parks and historic sites for free on Sunday. There are only five days in 2019 when national parks are free and entrance fees are waived. The next no-fee days will be on National Public Lands Day, Sept. 28 and Veterans Day, Nov. 11. The other previous free days were Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 21 and the first day of National Park Week which began April 20 this year. (Go to www.NPS.gov to see a list of the 419 national areas in your state managed by the NPS).

Facts about our incredibly diverse and unique national parks

To help you celebrate our diverse national resources, here are 20 interesting facts about our national parks.

  1. While Yellowstone is the nation's oldest national park, the second oldest park is no longer a national park. Mackinac National Park in Michigan, which was opened in 1875, was renamed a state park 20 years later.
  2. The National Park Service manages national parks and national monuments. National parks generally have incredible beauty, unique geological features or unusual ecosystems. Every state in the US has both national parks and monuments…except one. Delaware.
  3. There are two national parks in Alaska located above the Arctic Circle. That would be Gates of the Arctic National Park and Kobuk Valley National Park.
  4. Believe or not, there is an American national park located south of the equator. That would be the National Park of American Samoa.
  5. Sometimes a national park is not necessarily a big open grassy area but a prison or a leper colony. Alcatraz is located in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In Hawaii, Kalaupapa National Historic Site includes the Molokai Island Hansen's Disease Settlement, a former treatment center for those afflicted with leprosy.
  6. Three of the world's six largest volcanoes are located in Yellowstone National Park as part of the Yellowstone Caldera.
  7. The largest volcano on earth as far as volume and height is the Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
  8. The highest and lowest elevations in the national park system are Mount McKinley at 20,302 feet and Badwater Basin in Death Valley at 282 feet below sea level.
  9. The most remote park in the country is not in Alaska. Located south of the Florida Keys, the Tortugas National Park (also an abandoned fort and jail) can only be reached by boat or plane.
  10. Yosemite National Park is noted for that iconic waterfall in all the photos. But did you know that three of the 10 highest waterfalls in the world are located in that park? Ribbon Falls there is nine times taller than Niagara Falls.

    Yellowstone National Park - Photo from NPS/Jim Peac

  11. One of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on the planet wasn't in the Sahara Desert but took place in one of our national parks. You probably guessed it - Death Valley National Park. The high temperature recorded there - 134 degrees Fahrenheit.
  12. Looking to see some incredible views from your car? Rocky Mountain National Park has 48 miles of paved roads with awesome mountain vistas. But, get out of your car at a viewing spot, sit on a park bench and take in the landscape, fresh air and alpine smells for real.
  13. In a hurry? Well in Wyoming you can visit two amazing national parks in one day - Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. Utah has five incredible national parks located relatively close to each other that you can see in just one trip to the state.
  14. Want to know the most popular national park? It's not Yosemite or Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon. That top honor goes to Great Smoky Mountains National Park with more than 11.4 million guests per year. (You can click on the following link to see a list of the Top 20 National Parks by number of visitors).
  15. Looking for a park without any crowds? Kobuk Valley National Park in Alaska only receives 3,000 visitors per year. (Remember, that's that one located north of the Arctic Circle).
  16. While many of our parks have breathtaking mountain ranges, we have some incredible park acreage underground. In fact, the longest cave system in the world is in Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. There are 3,454 miles of mapped areas there.
  17. The Grand Canyon is considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
  18. Want a park with plenty of room to roam? The largest national park in the US is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska. It covers more than 13.2 million acres.
  19. The smallest? Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas with 5,500 acres. Ironically, Hot Springs is one of the top 20 most visited national parks in the US with more than one million visitors annually.
  20. Think Everglades National Park that covers a big swath of South Florida is big? It covers only 25% of Florida's original subtropical wetland area.

For more information, maps, guides and other goodies, visit the National Park Foundation website. The foundation is the charitable organization which supports the National Park Services and provides a whole bunch of free items to help you enjoy our tremendous parks.

Grand Canyon Colorado River - Photo from NPS/Mark Lellouc