Which US national park, established in 1872, is the oldest in the world?

Which US national park, established in 1872, is the oldest in the world? Yellowstone National Park is the accepted answer. It was created on March 1, 1872, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act.

The park spans northwestern Wyoming and small parts of Montana and Idaho. Its preservation was strongly influenced by the 1871 Hayden Geological Survey, whose reports, photographs, and paintings helped persuade Congress to protect the region from private development.

Yellowstone is famous for geothermal features formed by a massive volcanic system, including Old Faithful, colorful hot springs, mud pots, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Native peoples have lived in and traveled through the region for at least 11,000 years.

A common mix-up is confusing “oldest national park” with the oldest protected natural area of any kind. Yellowstone is conventionally recognized as the world’s first national park, while some earlier sites had different forms of protection.