What was the first national park established in the United States, created by law in 1872?

Yellowstone National Park was the first national park established in the United States, created by law in 1872.

President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act on March 1, 1872. The law set aside a large area in present-day Wyoming, with smaller sections extending into Montana and Idaho, as a public park for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.

Yellowstone’s geysers, hot springs, wildlife, and dramatic landscapes helped persuade Congress to protect the region from private development. The park is especially famous for Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It is widely regarded as the world’s first national park as well as the first in the United States.

Yellowstone is sometimes confused with Yosemite because Yosemite became an early and highly influential protected landscape. Yosemite Valley received federal protection in 1864, but Yosemite National Park itself was established in 1890. Yellowstone therefore retains the earlier national-park date.