11 Facts About National Parks

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1. In the National Park System, there are 407 sites covering more than 84 million acres of land.^[National Park Service. "Frequently Asked Questions." U.S. Department of the Interior. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
2. The Appalachian Trail is a 2,185 mile long public footpath that traverses the scenic, wooded, pastoral, wild, and culturally resonant lands of the Appalachian Mountains.^[National Park Service. "Appalachian." U.S. Department of the Interior. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
3. In 2014, more than 290 million people visited the National Parks.^[National Park Service. "Frequently Asked Questions." U.S. Department of the Interior. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
4. The nation’s deepest cave is 1,593 ft deep in New Mexico at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.^[National Park Service. "National Park System Fun Facts." U.S. Department of the Interior. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
5. Originally established by Congress as Hot Springs Reservation in 1832 and later becoming a national park in 1921, Hot Springs National Park represents the oldest protected area in the National Park System^[National Park Foundation. "HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK." Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
6. In the National Park System there are: 124 historical parks or sites, 78 national monuments, 59 national parks, 25 battlefields or military parks, 18 preserves, 18 recreational areas, 10 seashores, 4 parkways, 4 lakeshores and 2 reserves.^[National Park Service. "DESIGNING PARKS FOR HUMAN HEALTH BENEFITS." U.S. Department of the Interior, 2013. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
7. Yosemite National Park supports more than 400 species of vertebrates including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.^[National Park Service. "Yosemite." U.S. Department of the Interior. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
8. There is 1 active volcano, thousands of petrified trees, and almost 300 waterfalls in Yellowstone National Park.^[Knowlton, F.H. "FOSSIL FORESTS OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK." Government Printing Office Washington, 1921. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
9. Seneca Falls National Park in New York is the location of the First Women’s Right Conventions, where expanding rights of women were discussed in the mid-19th century.^[National Park Service. "America's Civil War: Challenges Perspectives Opportunities." U.S. Department of the Interior, 2002. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
10. The largest living things in the world are in National Parks: Sequoia trees and Alaskan brown bears (the world’s largest living carnivores).^[National Park Service. "National Park System Fun Facts." U.S. Department of the Interior. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]
11. There are 27,000 historic and prehistoric structures preserved within the National Parks System.^[Repanshek, Kurt. "National Trust For Historic Preservation Urges National Park Service To Protect Historic Buildings By Leasing Them." National Park Advocates. Web Accessed April 18, 2015.]