National Park Week

National Park Week is August 22–30 in 2026. National Park Week celebrates U.S. national parks. A government group named the National Park Service (NPS) protects national parks. The NPS takes care of more than 400 places including monuments, battlefields, historic buildings, and more. The NPS also takes care of 63 national parks in states across the U.S. People can celebrate National Park Week by visiting national parks. They can celebrate by learning about national parks too!

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is the oldest national park in the U.S. Yellowstone became a national park in 1872 when President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act. Yellowstone is in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Yellowstone has many natural features, including canyons, rivers, forests, hot springs, geysers, and more. One geyser is named Old Faithful. Old Faithful erupts about every hour to hour and a half. Many kinds of wildlife live in Yellowstone. The wildlife includes bison, bears, wolves, bighorn sheep, deer, and more.

New River Gorge National Park

New River Gorge National Park is the newest national park. New River Gorge became a national park in 2020. New River Gorge is in West Virginia. The New River flows through New River Gorge. New River is famous for whitewater rafting. Part of the river, called the Lower Gorge, has many rapids for whitewater rafting. A huge bridge is in New River Gorge. The bridge goes across the New River. It is one of the highest bridges in the U.S.! People cannot walk on the bridge, but they can do a special tour and walk underneath the bridge.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the biggest national park. Wrangell-St. Elias became a national park in 1980. Wrangell-St. Elias is in Alaska. Wrangell-St. Elias covers about 13 million acres. It is the same size as Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and the country of Switzerland combined! Wrangell-St. Elias includes volcanoes, glaciers, mountains, lakes, rivers, and more. People visit Wrangell-St. Elias for camping, hiking, seeing wildlife, mountain climbing, and more. Many people visit national parks every year. They can visit national parks for free on August 25 as part of the National Park Week celebration. People can learn more about national parks too. How will you celebrate National Park Week?

National Park Service

The National Park Service (NPS) protects national parks in the U.S. The NPS was started in 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson signed an act that created it. The act put the NPS in charge of protecting national parks. The NPS headquarters is in Washington, D.C. The NPS helps people stay safe in national parks. Many park rangers work for the NPS.

U.S.

National Park Week celebrates national parks in the U.S. The U.S. is a country in North America. Washington, D.C., is the capital of the U.S. The U.S. includes 50 states. Alaska is the biggest U.S. state and Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state. The Atlantic Ocean borders the U.S. to the east. The Pacific Ocean borders the U.S. to the west.