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

Joshua Tree National Par

Participate in National Park Week this year with a free park pass, a free park guide and variety of interesting events.

That's right, the National Park Service is very generous during this celebratory week - Sat. April 20 to Sun. April 28.

The NPS and National Park Foundation, the non-profit which supports our parks, offer a nice array of treats. Here's a list of some of them:

Free Admission - First of all, on Sat., April 20, admission to ALL park areas, more than 419 parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, is FREE. Here's a handy way to