Boston Harbor Islands
. . . where you can walk a Civil War-era fort, view historic lighthouses, explore tide pools, hike lush trails, camp under the stars, or relax while fishing, picnicking, or swimming—all within reach of downtown Boston. Youth programs, visitor ser...
Learn more
Boston
Discover how one city could be the Cradle of Liberty, site of the first major battle of American Revolution, and home to many who espoused that freedom can be extended to all.
Learn more
Brices Cross Roads
The Confederate victory at Brices Cross Roads was a significant victory for Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, but its long term effect on the war proved costly for the Confederates. Brices Cross Roads is an excellent example of winning the ba...
Learn more
Brown v. Board of Education
The path to equality has been anything but smooth. It's taken courage and dedication by everyday people coming together for a common goal to carry the country toward true equality. Parents, teachers, secretaries, welders, ministers, and students ...
Learn more
Bryce Canyon
Hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) exist on every continent, but here is the largest concentration found anywhere on Earth. Situated along a high plateau at the top of the Grand Staircase, the park's high elevations include numerous life communi...
Learn more
Buck Island Reef
Welcome to Buck Island! Before you come, please watch our 2014 Telly Award winning film "Caribbean Gem." Watching this will catch you up on 50+ years of National Park Service protection and civic engagement. Learn what we do every day to preserve...
Learn more
Buffalo
Established in 1972, Buffalo National River flows freely for 135 miles and is one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the lower 48 states. Once you arrive, prepare to journey from running rapids to quiet pools while surrounded by massive bluf...
Learn more
Butterfield Overland
In 1857, businessman and transportation entrepreneur John Butterfield was awarded a contract to establish an overland mail route between the eastern United States and growing populations in the Far West. What became known as the Butterfield Overl...
Learn more
Cabrillo
In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo climbed out of his boat and onto shore, becoming the first European to set foot on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Cabrillo National Monument not only tells the story of this 16th-century explorat...
Learn more
California
Follow in the footsteps of over 250,000 emigrants who traveled to the gold fields and rich farmlands of California during the 1840s and 1850s: the greatest mass migration in American history. The California National Historic Trail is over 5,000 m...
Learn more
Camp Nelson
The US Army established Camp Nelson as a fortified supply depot in April 1863. Over the next 3 years. the site evolved into a massive recruitment and training center for United States Colored Troops and a refugee camp for their families. It serve...
Learn more
Canaveral
Reflect on the barrier island which is composed of dune, hammock, and lagoon habitat. Explore ancient Timucua shell mounds. Experience the sanctuary that is provided for thousands of species of plants and animals that call Canaveral National Seas...
Learn more
Cane River Creole
The Cane River region is home to a unique culture; the Creoles. Generations of the same families of workers, enslaved and tenant, and owners lived on these lands for over 200 years. The park tells their stories and preserves the cultural landscap...
Learn more
Canyon de Chelly
This canyon is home to Diné families who raise livestock, farmlands, and live here. People have lived in these canyons for nearly 5,000 years, which is longer than anyone has lived continuously on the Colorado Plateau. In this place called Tsegi,...
Learn more
Canyonlands
Canyonlands invites you to explore a wilderness of countless canyons and fantastically formed buttes carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Rivers divide the park into four districts: Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze, and the r...
Learn more
Cape Cod
The great Outer Beach described by Thoreau in the 1800s is protected within the national seashore. Forty miles of pristine sandy beach, marshes, ponds, and uplands support diverse species. Lighthouses, cultural landscapes, and wild cranberry bogs...
Learn more
Cape Hatteras
The sound of ocean waves, the starry night sky, or the calm of the salt marshes, you can experience it all. Shaped by the forces of water, wind, and storms these islands are ever changing. The plants, wildlife, and people who live here adapt cont...
Learn more
Cape Henry Memorial
English colonists first landed here in April 1607, erected a wooden cross and gave thanks for a successful crossing to a new land. In 1781, Americans could watch from these same sand dunes the largest naval battle of the Revolutionary War. Our Fr...
Learn more
Cape Krusenstern
A bridge to the past and a land for the future, Cape Krusenstern National Monument protects approximately 560,000 acres of diverse Arctic coastal, and upland ecosystems. Inhabited by the Iñupiaq people since time-immemorial, over 5,000 years of s...
Learn more
Cape Lookout
A boat ride three miles off-shore brings you to the barrier islands of Cape Lookout National Seashore. Horse watching, shelling, fishing, birding, camping, lighthouse climbing, and touring historic villages--there’s something for everyone at Cape...
Learn more
Capitol Hill Parks
The Capitol Hill Parks include several park areas east of the U.S. Capitol. Included in this group are Folger, Lincoln, Stanton, and Marion Parks, the Eastern Market and Potomac Avenue Metro stations, and several smaller land parcels such as Sewa...
Learn more
Capitol Reef
Located in south-central Utah in the heart of red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park is a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges in the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic monocline (a wrinkle on the earth) extending almos...
Learn more
Captain John Smith Chesapeake
People first arrived in the Chesapeake Bay during the last ice age. As glaciers melted, diverse societies learned to thrive in a world of water. When Englishman Captain John Smith explored the Bay in 1608, he documented hundreds of American India...
Learn more
Capulin Volcano
Part of the 8,000 square mile Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field, Capulin Volcano showcases the volcanic geology of northeastern New Mexico. The views are spectacular day or night, with views of 4 different states from the volcanic rim and one of the d...
Learn more
Carl Sandburg Home
Post Helene Status: Main parking lot is closed; use secondary Hikers' lot. Grounds / trails open dawn till dusk 7 days a week. Hikers' lot limited to 24 cars. Barn open 7 days a week 10-4. Bookstore / Visitor Center open Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun 1...
Learn more
Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School
More than 7,800 children from 140 Tribes went to the Carlisle School from 1879 to 1918. The National Park Service will collaborate with families, affiliated Tribal Nations, the US Army, historians, and partners to develop resources and share the ...
Learn more
Carlsbad Caverns
High ancient sea ledges, deep rocky canyons, flowering cactus, and desert wildlife—treasures above the ground in the Chihuahuan Desert. Hidden beneath the surface are more than 119 caves—formed when sulfuric acid dissolved limestone leaving behin...
Learn more
Carter G. Woodson Home
Before Dr. Carter G. Woodson, there was very little accurate written history about the lives and experiences of Americans of African descent. Today a National Historic Site, Dr. Woodson’s home served as the headquarters for the Association for th...
Learn more
Casa Grande Ruins
An Ancestral Sonoran Desert People's farming community and "Great House" are preserved at Casa Grande Ruins. Whether a gathering place for people or simply a waypoint marker in an extensive system of canals and trading partners, the structures ar...
Learn more
Castillo de San Marcos
Built by the Spanish in St. Augustine to defend Florida and the Atlantic trade route, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument preserves the oldest masonry fortification in the continental United States and interprets more than 450 years of cultu...
Learn more
Castle Clinton
Located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, Castle Clinton stands where New York City began, and represents not only the city’s growth, but the growth of a nation. Initially intended to prevent a British invasion in 1812, the fortification h...
Learn more
Castle Mountains
Castle Mountains represents some of the most unique elements of the Mojave Desert. Nestled between the Nevada state line and Mojave National Preserve, the nearly 21,000 acres of Castle Mountains boasts Joshua tree forests, unbroken natural landsc...
Learn more
Catoctin Mountain
President Franklin D. Roosevelt created programs to give people a chance to rebuild their lives from the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps gave this land a second opportunity and through re-gr...
Learn more
Cedar Breaks
Crowning the Grand Staircase, Cedar Breaks sits at over 10,000 feet and looks down into a half-mile deep geologic amphitheater. Come wander among timeless bristlecone pines, stand in lush meadows of wildflowers, ponder crystal-clear night skies a...
Learn more
Cedar Creek & Belle Grove
Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley has a long and rich heritage that still inspires today. Native Americans first shaped the land, followed by colonists and settlers. The fertile valley became an important wheat-growing region in the 1800s. It also wit...
Learn more
Chaco Culture
Explore the monumental structures and breathtaking landscape at Chaco, a thriving regional center for the ancestral Pueblo people from 850 to 1250 CE (Common Era), through guided tours, hiking & biking trails, evening campfire talks, night sky pr...
Learn more
Chamizal
Chamizal is more than just an urban park to recreate or enjoy a quiet afternoon. These grounds are a reminder of the harmonious settlement of a 100-year boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico. We celebrate the cultures of the borde...
Learn more
Channel Islands
Channel Islands National Park encompasses five remarkable islands and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources. Isolation over thousands of years has created unique animals, plants, and archeol...
Learn more
Charles Pinckney
Charles Pinckney was a principal author and signer of the United States Constitution and went on to be a political leader in South Carolina for over 40 years. The park preserves Snee Farm, one of his plantation properties, where visitors can lear...
Learn more
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers
Throughout his life, Charles Young overcame countless obstacles in his ascent to prominence. In spite of overt racism and stifling inequality, Young rose through the military ranks to become one of the most respected leaders of his time. A well-r...
Learn more
Chattahoochee River
Today the river valley attracts us for so many reasons. Take a solitary walk to enjoy nature’s display, raft leisurely through the rocky shoals with friends, fish the misty waters as the sun comes up, or have a picnic on a Sunday afternoon. Get O...
Learn more
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal
Preserving America's early transportation history, the C&O Canal began as a dream of passage to Western wealth. Operating for nearly 100 years the canal was a lifeline for communities along the Potomac River as coal, lumber, and agricultural prod...
Learn more
Chesapeake Bay
Over 41 million acres are connected through the waters that flow to and through Chesapeake Bay. The National Park Service strives to connect people to the opportunities and adventures throughout the watershed. Inspiring stewardship across this va...
Learn more
Chickamauga & Chattanooga
In 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought for control of Chattanooga, known as the "Gateway to the Deep South." The Confederates were victorious at nearby Chickamauga in September. However, renewed fighting in Chattanooga that November provide...
Learn more
Chickasaw
Springs, streams, lakes - whatever its form, water is the attraction at Chickasaw National Recreation Area.
Learn more
Chiricahua
Explore rhyolite pinnacles and balanced rocks on foot or by car. Relax at the campground under star-filled, dark skies. See how a mountain range rising between two deserts creates a home for diverse wildlife. Imagine history here. Prehistoric peo...
Learn more
Christiansted
Christiansted National Historic Site was established in 1952 as the first unit of the National Park Service in the Virgin Islands of the United States. Covering over seven acres the park tells the stories about Danish economy and ways of life, an...
Learn more
City Of Rocks
Described by California Trail emigrants as “a city of tall spires,” “steeple rocks,” and “the silent city,” this awe-inspiring landscape continues to captivate. Today, it beckons rock climbers, hikers, campers, hunters, and adventurers with its d...
Learn more
Civil War Defenses of Washington
On forested hills surrounding the nation's capital are the remnants of a complex system of Civil War fortifications. These strategic buttresses transformed the young capital into one of the world's most fortified cities. By 1865, 68 forts and 93 ...
Learn more
Clara Barton
Clara Barton dedicated her life and energies to help others in times of need - both home and abroad, in peacetime as well as during military emergencies. Glen Echo was her home the last 15 years of her life, and the structure illustrates her dedi...
Learn more