Last April we got a good response when we asked you how many of the 58 National Park-designated NPS units have you visited?. Let's expand the scope of this thing. Here's a list of all 392 units of the National Park System, listed by designation type. How many have you visited?
National Battlefields (11)
Antietam (VA)
Big Hole (MT)
Cowpens (SC)
Fort Donelson (TN/KY)
Fort Necessity (PA)
Monocacy (MD)
Moores Creek (NC)
Petersburg (VA)
Stones River (TN)
Tupelo (MS)
Wilson's Creek (MO)
National Battlefield Parks (3)
Kennesaw Mountain (GA)
Manassas (VA)
Richmond (VA)
National Battlefield Site (1)
Brices Cross Roads MS)
National Military Parks (9)
Chickamauga and Chattanooga (GA/TN)
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial (VA)
Gettysburg (PA)
Guilford Courthouse (NC)
Horseshoe Bend (AL)
Kings Mountain (SC)
Pea Ridge (AR)
Shiloh (TN)
Vicksburg (MS)
National Historical Parks (45)
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace (KY)
Adams (MA)
Appomattox Court House (VA)
Boston, Massachusetts
Cane River Creole NHP and Heritage Area (LA)
Cedar Creek & Belle Grove (VA)
Chaco Culture (NM)
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (MD/WV/DC)
Colonial (VA) 30, 2007
Cumberland Gap (KY/TN/VA)
Dayton Aviation Heritage (OH)
George Rogers Clark (IN)
Harpers Ferry (WV/MD)
Hopewell Culture (OH)
Independence (PA)
Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve (LA)
Kalaupapa (HI)
Kaloko-Honokohau (HI)
Keweenaw (MI)
Klondike Gold Rush (AK/WA)
Lewis & Clark, Oregon (WA)
Lowell (MA)
Lyndon B. Johnson (TX)
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller (VT)
Minute Man (MA)
Morristown (NJ)
Natchez (MS)
New Bedford Whaling (MA)
New Orleans Jazz (LA)
Nez Perce (ID)
Palo Alto Battlefield (TX)
Pecos (NM)
Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau (formerly, City of Refuge) (HI)
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front (CA)
Salt River Bay NHP & Ecological Preserve (Virgin Islands)
San Antonio Missions (TX)
San Francisco Maritime (CA)
San Juan Island (WA)
Saratoga (NY)
Sitka (AK)
Thomas Edison (NJ)
Tumacacori (AZ)
Valley Forge (PA)
War in the Pacific (Guam)
Women's Rights (NY)
National Historic Sites (76)
Allegheny Portage Railroad (PA)
Andersonville (GA)
Andrew Johnson (TN)
Bent's Old Fort (CO)
Boston African American (MA)
Brown v. Board of Education (KS)
Carl Sandburg Home (NC)
Carter G. Woodson Home (DC)
Charles Pinckney (SC)
Christiansted (Virgin Islands)
Clara Barton (MD)
Edgar Allan Poe (PA)
Eisenhower (PA)
Eleanor Roosevelt (NY)
Eugene O'Neill (CA)
First Ladies, Canton (OH)
Ford's Theatre (DC)
Fort Bowie (AZ)
Fort Davis (TX)
Fort Laramie (WY)
Fort Larned (KS)
Fort Point (CA)
Fort Raleigh (NC)
Fort Scott (KS)
Fort Smith (AR/OK)
Fort Union Trading Post (MT/ND)
Fort Vancouver (WA)
Frederick Douglass (DC)
Frederick Law Olmsted (MA)
Friendship Hill (PA)
Golden Spike (UT)
Grant-Kohrs Ranch (MT)
Hampton (MD)
Harry S Truman (MO)
Herbert Hoover (IA)
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt (NY)
Hopewell Furnace (PA)
Hubbell Trading Post (AZ)
James A. Garfield (OH)
Jimmy Carter (GA)
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (MA)
John Muir (CA)
Knife River Indian Villages (ND)
Lincoln Home (IL)
Little Rock Central High School (AR)
Longfellow (MA)
Maggie L. Walker (VA)
Manzanar (CA)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (GA)
Martin Van Buren (NY)
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House (DC)
Minuteman Missile (SD)
Nicodemus (KS)
Ninety Six (SC)
Pennsylvania Avenue (DC)
Puukoholā Heiau (HI)
Sagamore Hill (NY)
Saint-Gaudens (NH)
Saint Paul's Church (NY)
Salem Maritime (MA)
San Juan (Puerto Rico)
Sand Creek Massacre (CO)
Saugus Iron Works (MA)
Springfield Armory (MA)
Steamtown (PA)
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace (NY)
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural (NY)
Thomas Stone (MD)
Tuskegee Airmen (AL)
Tuskegee Institute (AL)
Ulysses S. Grant (MO)
Vanderbilt Mansion (NY)
Washita Battlefield (OK)
Weir Farm (CO)
Whitman Mission (WA)
William Howard Taft (OH)
International Historic Sites (1)
Saint Croix Island (ME)
National Lakeshores (4)
Apostle Islands (WI)
Indiana Dunes (IN)
Pictured Rocks (MI)
Sleeping Bear Dunes (MI)
National Memorials (28)
Arkansas Post (AR)
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial (VA)
Chamizal (TX)
Coronado (AZ)
De Soto (FL)
Federal Hall (NY)
Flight 93 (PA)
Fort Caroline (FL)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (DC)
General Grant (NY)
Hamilton Grange (NY)
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (IL/MO)
Korean War Veterans (DC)
Johnstown Flood (PA)
Lincoln Boyhood (IN)
Lincoln Memorial (DC)
Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac (DC)
Mount Rushmore (SD)
Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial (OH)
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial (CA)
Roger Williams, Rhode Island
Thaddeus Kosciuszko (PA)
Theodore Roosevelt Island (DC)
Thomas Jefferson Memorial (DC)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial (DC)
Washington Monument (DC)
World War II Memorial (DC)
Wright Brothers (NC)
National Monuments (75)
African Burial Ground (NY)
Agate Fossil Beds (NE)
Alibates Flint Quarries (TX)
Aniakchak (AK)
Aztec Ruins (NM)
Bandelier (NM)
Booker T. Washington (VA)
Buck Island Reef (Virgin Islands)
Cabrillo (CA)
Canyon de Chelly (AZ)
Cape Krusenstern (AK)
Capulin Volcano (NM)
Casa Grande Ruins (AZ)
Castillo de San Marcos (FL)
Castle Clinton (NY)
Cedar Breaks (UT)
Chiricahua (AZ)
Colorado (CO)
Craters of the Moon (ID)
Devils Postpile (CA)
Devils Tower (WY)
Dinosaur (CO/UT)
Effigy Mounds (IA), April 30, 2007
El Malpais (NM)
El Morro (NM)
Florissant Fossil Beds (CO)
Fort Frederica (GA)
Fort Matanzas (FL)
Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine (MD)
Fort Pulaski (GA)
Fort Stanwix (NY)
Fort Sumter (SC)
Fort Union (NM)
Fossil Butte, Wyoming
George Washington Birthplace (VA)
George Washington Carver (MO)
Gila Cliff Dwellings (NM)
Governors Island, Governors Island (NY)
Grand Portage, Minnesota
Hagerman Fossil Beds (ID)
Hohokam Pima (AZ)
Homestead NM of America, Nebraska
Hovenweep (CO/UT)
Jewel Cave (SD)
John Day Fossil Beds (OR)
Lava Beds (CA)
Little Bighorn Battlefield (MT)
Minidoka Internment (ID)
Montezuma Castle (AZ)
Muir Woods (CA)
Natural Bridges (UT)
Navajo (AZ)
Ocmulgee (GA)
Oregon Caves (OR)
Organ Pipe Cactus (AZ)
Petroglyph (NM)
Pinnacles (CA)
Pipe Spring (AZ)
Pipestone (MN)
Poverty Point (LA)
Rainbow Bridge (UT)
Russell Cave (AL)
Salinas Pueblo Missions (NM)
Scotts Bluff (NE)
Statue of Liberty (NY/NJ)
Sunset Crater Volcano (AZ)
Timpanogos Cave (UT)
Tonto (AZ)
Tuzigoot (AZ)
Virgin Islands Coral Reef, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Walnut Canyon (AZ)
White Sands (NM)
World War II Valor in the Pacific (AK/HI/CA)
Wupatki (AZ)
Yucca House (CO)
National Parks (58)
Acadia, Maine
Arches (UT)
Badlands (SD)
Big Bend (TX)
Biscayne (FL)
Black Canyon of the Gunnison (CO)
Bryce Canyon (UT)
Canyonlands (UT)
Capitol Reef (UT)
Carlsbad Caverns (NM)
Channel Islands (CA)
Congaree (SC)
Crater Lake (OR)
Cuyahoga Valley (OH)
Death Valley (CA/NV)
Denali (AK)
Dry Tortugas (FL)
Everglades (FL)
Gates of the Arctic (AK)
Glacier Bay (AK)
Glacier, Montana
Grand Canyon (AZ)
Grand Teton (WY)
Great Basin (NV)
Great Sand Dunes NP & Preserve (CO)
Great Smoky Mountains (TN/NC)
Guadalupe Mountains (TX)
Haleakalā (HI)
Hawai‘i Volcanoes (HI)
Hot Springs (AR)
Isle Royale (MI)
Joshua Tree (CA)
Katmai (AK)
Kenai Fjords (AK)
Kings Canyon (CA)
Kobuk Valley (AK)
Lake Clark (AK)
Lassen Volcanic (CA)April 30, 2007
Mammoth Cave (KY)
Mesa Verde (CO)
Mount Rainier (WA)
North Cascades (WA)
Olympic (WA)
Petrified Forest (AZ)
Redwood (CA)
Rocky Mountain (CO)
Saguaro (AZ)
National Park of Samoa (American Samoa)
Sequoia (CA)
Shenandoah (VA)
Theodore Roosevelt (ND)
Virgin Islands (Virgin Islands)
Voyageurs (MN)
Wind Cave (SD)
Wrangell-St. Elias (AK)
Yellowstone (WY/MT/ID)
Yosemite (CA)
Zion (UT)
Parkways (4)
Blue Ridge Parkway (NC)
George Washington Memorial Parkway (MD/VA)
John D. Rockefeller Jr., Memorial Parkway (WY)
Natchez Trace Parkway (MS)
National Preserves (18)
Aniakchak (AK)
Bering Land Bridge (AK)
Big Cypress (FL)
Big Thicket (TX)
Craters of the Moon (ID)
Denali (AK)
Gates of the Arctic (AK)
Glacier Bay (AK)
Great Sand Dunes (CO)
Katmai (AK)
Lake Clark (AK)
Little River Canyon (AL)
Mojave (CA)
Noatak (AK)
Tallgrass Prairie (KS)
Timucuan Ecological and Historic (FL) April 30, 2007
Wrangell-St. Elias (AK)
Yukon-Charley Rivers (AK)
National Reserves (2)
City of Rocks (ID)
Ebey's Landing NH Reserve (WA)
National Recreation Areas (18)
Amistad (TX)
Bighorn Canyon (MT/WY)
Boston Harbor Islands (MA)
Chattahoochee River (GA)
Chickasaw (OK)
Curecanti (CO)
Delaware Water Gap (PA/NJ)
Gateway (NY/NJ)
Gauley River (WV)
Glen Canyon (AZ/UT)
Golden Gate (CA)
Lake Chelan (WA)
Lake Mead (NV/AZ)
Lake Meredith (TX)
Lake Roosevelt (formerly Coulee Dam) (WA)
Ross Lake (WA)
Santa Monica Mountains (CA)
Whiskeytown Unit, Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity (CA)
National Rivers (5)
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (TN/KY)
Buffalo National River (AR)
New River Gorge National River (WV)
Mississippi National River and Recreation Areas (MN)
Ozark National Scenic Riverways (MO)
National Wild And Scenic Rivers (10)
Alagnak Wild River (AK)
Bluestone National Scenic River (WV)
Delaware National Scenic River (PA/NJ/NY)
Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River (NJ)
Missouri National Recreational River (NE/SD)
Niobrara National Scenic River, (NE/SD)
Obed Wild and Scenic River (TN)
Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River (TX)
Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway (MN/WI)
Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreation River (NY/PA)
National Scenic Trails (3)
Appalachian National Scenic Trail (Maine to Georgia)
Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (MS/TN)
Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail (VA/PA)
National Seashores (10)
Assateague Island (MD/VA)
Canaveral (FL)
Cape Cod (MA)
Cape Hatteras (NC)
Cape Lookout (NC)
Cumberland Island (GA)
Fire Island (NY)
Gulf Islands (FL/MS)
Padre Island (TX)
Point Reyes (CA)
Other Designations (11)
Catoctin Mountain Park (MD)
Constitution Gardens (DC)
Fort Washington Park (MD)
Greenbelt Park (MD)
National Capital Parks (DC)
National Mall (DC)
Piscataway Park (MD)
Prince William Forest Park (VA)
Rock Creek Park (DC)
White House (DC)
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (VA)
Comments
Nothing happened to those trails, Danny -- they just aren't counted as units of the National Park System. The National Park Service administers 19 of the long-distance trails in the National Trails System (and co-administers several), yet counts only a few as units of the national Park System. Trail of Tears and Overmountain Victory are not among that select few.
My brother referred me to this site. We had to compare our park lists. Many we visited at the same time, others not. I came up with 83 and counting. Planning to add more when I retire in a couple of years.
I have visited 45 from your list, but it is missing the Oklahoma City National Memorial and the Valor in the Pacific Memorial (Pearl Harbor), both of which I consider units despite Bob's legalistic stance on the matter. Personally I find it offensive that simply because the people of Oklahoma have taken the funding burden off the NPS, that Bob does not consider this sacred site a part of the National Parks system. It is still listed on the NPS site, still has national park signage and displays, and still employs national park rangers.
I found i have visited 43 of the above listed places. Mostly in the west (Ca, Co, Wa, Wy, Mt, SD, NM, AZ, Ut)... because this is mostly where I have lived... Someday I hope to be able to make it out to the Eastern US and see may of the parks out there. I think they are a terrific heritage for our children and all future generations.
jbrown84,
It isn't Bob who is deciding what is an NPS unit. There is simply a list NPS maintains based on its own methods and that list comes up to 392.
Numerous sites are "affiliates," which receive some kind of NPS support but are not units. Apparently the change to affiliate status was at the request of the foundation.
According to the NPS site for the memorial, it is "privately owned and administered by the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation." Privately run memorials/parks are almost always considered affiliates and not units. In any case, it's my sense that it was the foundation that wanted to take things over, and in doing so they (perhaps proudly) surrendered their status as a unit.
So it's not Bob's count, it's the count based on what is a unit. Again I'm not sure how some things in the gray area are units and some are not, but privately run memorials are typically not, and it looks like that's the way they wanted it.
Thanks for watching my back, Mike. My sins may be many and varied, but the roster doesn't include inappropriate designations, redesignations, or dedesignations of National Park System units.
I guess a unit is a unit, although sometimes the jurisdiction can be shared. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and there is a particularly varied NPS unit in Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which includes Fort Mason, the Presidio of San Francisco, Ocean Beach, parts of Stinson Beach, Alcatraz, the Marin Headlands, Bolinas Ridge, Sweeney Ridge, Lands End, Cliff House, and other sites. The superintendent is also in charge of Muir Woods NM as well as Fort Point NHS, which was an NPS site long before the surrounding Presidio was absorbed. I know a lot of people get confused with actual counts given that Kings Canyon NP and Sequoia NP are essentially the same jurisdiction. I was able to add one to my count because we travelled from Grand Teton NP to Yellowstone NP via the John D. Rockefeller Parkway, and even had breakfast at Flagg Ranch.
I counted 35 by the strict interpretation of named NPS units. I know it doesn't sound like much. Once I got curious and checked out Rosie the Riveter NHP, but only visited the little memorial which is in a city park in Richmond, CA.
Where is the official list of units?
For example, when I look at the National Park web site, I see a separate web page for the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail which has a headquarters and visitor center in Omaha, and it even has its own Junior Ranger program, but it is not on your list. I assume that is because it's not a "unit," so where is the official list of "units"?