Think you know a lot about the national parks? Here are some quick fun facts that you may not have heard before!
1. The largest national park is over 6 million acres
Denali national park is located in Alaska and its terrain has tundra, spruce forest and glaciers. This park only gets about 600,000 visitors each year.
2. The Smokey Mountains is the most popular U.S National Park
This park located in Tennessee gets an average of over 12 million visitors each year!
3. In total, the National Park Service protects over 84 million acres in land
…that’s a LOT of land!
4. Sequoia National Park has the largest living tree
This California park has a tree that is named General Sherman. This tree is 275 feet tall and is believed to be about 2,00 years old. That is one old tree! Sequoia is the first park to officially protect a living organism.
5. A Native American Tribe lives in the Grand Canyon
At the base of the Grand Canyon, there is a remote Native of American Tribe’s village. The Havasupai Indian Reservation is home to Supai Village. It has a population of only 208
6. Many Yellowstone Hot Springs are acidic enough to dissolve a body
Yep, you read that right. These hot springs and hydrothermal features can dissolve a body overnight. There have been multiple people who have fallen in and died in a hot spring and their bodies were never found. Stay on the paths! And don’t get any ideas if you happen to need to get rid of a body…
7. The Gateway Arch is twice the height of the Statue of Liberty
This national park is found in the heart of downtown St. Louis (a city…not your typical national park). This 192 acre park has an arch that is 630 ft tall! That is twice the size of the Statue of Liberty and 75 ft taller than the Washington Monument
8. The Grand Canyon is bigger than Rhode Island
The Grand Canyon is over 1,900 square miles! And it is 277 miles long! The park is 1,218,375 acres and Rhode Island is only 788,000 acres.
9. Death Valley National Park is the hottest place on earth
If you are sensitive to hot weather, Death Valley probably isn’t the place for you to visit. This park is known for setting the record on the hottest temperature recorded—134 degree in July of 1913.
10. In 2019, it was estimated that 327.52 million people have visited sites that are maintained by the National Park Service.
NPS estimated over 327.06 recreational visits, 1.054 BILLION recreation visitor hours, and 8.039 BILLION overnight stays. I would say that the parks bring in pretty much traffic…
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