Which States Have The Most Parks?
When it seems like the green hues of nature are lessening every year with the constant building and expansion of urban areas, at least we have our sacred and protected state and national parks.
Parks are a necessity to give people a place to escape from it all, to unwind and breathe fresh air, to fire up their imagination and go exploring. It is the absolute best way to escape from the daily grind of life living in a city or working for a large corporation. As one of my favorite quotes goes…
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.” -Henry David Thoreau
But which states in the US put a priority on making sure there is an abundance of park space for their residents to use? Well I came across this interesting graphic that ranks each state based on the percentage of its land that is made up of both state and national parks, and thought the results were really interesting.
It’s common knowledge that there are only 61 national parks across the United States, but did you know that there are over 3,700 state parks across the country!? 11 states boast more than 100 state parks, with 3 of them even reaching numbers into the 200s! California dominates when it comes to state parks with 270 in their state alone!
Top 10 States With the Most State Parks
- California: 270
- New York: 215
- Washington: 212
- Oregon: 195
- Florida: 191
- Massachusetts: 154
- Illinois: 142
- Pennsylvania: 121
- Alaska: 119
- Connecticut: 109
The largest state park in California is the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which covers more than 600,000 acres!
Now to the well-loved and cherished National Parks. There are 61 in total, 2 of which have been added to the list in recent years. Including the controversial Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, MO. It’s controversy is due to the park being only 91 acres large, which many have deemed to be too small to qualify for a national park.
Even though there are far les national parks to go around, some state have also dominated in this area with having more than 10% of the national parks within their borders.
States With the Most National Parks
- California: 9
- Alaska: 8
- Utah: 5
- Colorado: 4
- Washington, Florida, and Arizona (tied): 3
Coming in at the top for the most national parks is, once again, California with 9. Alaska was a close second with 8 national parks, but they do get to brag about having the 4 largest national parks in the system. California has the 5th largest one, Death Valley National Park, at a whopping 3.4 million acres!
If the 5th largest national park is THAT large, then how big are the top 4!? I’m glad you asked….
Coming in at #4 is Katmai National Park with 3,674,530 acres. (all of these next 4 are located in Alaska)
#3 is Denali National Park with 4,740,912 acres.
#2 is Gates of the Arctic with 7,523,898 acres.
And the #1 largest national park is Wrangell-St. Elias with 8,323,148 acres.
If you’re wondering how your state faired when ranked for state and national parks, the complete infographic can be found below, click here to see it better.
