What was the first U.S. national park, a landmark in the country’s 250-year story?

Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States.

Congress established Yellowstone on March 1, 1872, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act. The law set aside the area as a public park and pleasure ground for the benefit of present and future generations.

Yellowstone lies primarily in Wyoming, with smaller portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It is famous for geothermal features such as Old Faithful, colorful hot springs, mud pots, and the Grand Prismatic Spring. The park also protects forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife.

Yellowstone’s creation helped popularize the idea that exceptional landscapes could be preserved for public enjoyment rather than reserved for private development. Yosemite became a national park later, in 1890, while Sequoia was established in the same year.