What is the largest national park in the US?
Quick answer
Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska is the largest national park in the United States, covering about 13.2 million acres (53,000 km²). That’s larger than Switzerland and about six times the size of Yellowstone.
The 5 largest US national parks
| Rank | Park | State | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wrangell–St. Elias | Alaska | ~13.2 million acres |
| 2 | Gates of the Arctic | Alaska | ~8.5 million acres |
| 3 | Denali | Alaska | ~6.1 million acres |
| 4 | Katmai | Alaska | ~4.1 million acres |
| 5 | Death Valley | California, Nevada | ~3.4 million acres |
Sizes include the parks’ preserves. Death Valley is the largest park in the contiguous (lower 48) United States.
Inside Wrangell–St. Elias
- It contains 9 of the 16 highest peaks in the US, including Mount St. Elias (5,489 m).
- It has more glaciers than anywhere else in North America; the Malaspina Glacier alone is larger than Rhode Island.
- The old copper-mining town of Kennecott is a preserved ghost town inside the park.
- Only two rough roads lead in, so it gets far fewer visitors than parks like Yellowstone.
Other national park records
| Record | Park |
|---|---|
| First national park in the world | Yellowstone, 1872 |
| Most visited | Great Smoky Mountains (Tennessee and North Carolina) |
| Smallest | Gateway Arch, Missouri (~91 acres) |
| Deepest lake | Crater Lake, Oregon |
There are 63 national parks in the US, plus hundreds of other protected sites managed by the National Park Service.
Want more? See the deepest lake in the US, inside another national park. Protecting parks matters for wildlife; here’s why biodiversity is important.
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