Which U.S. national park is the largest in the contiguous United States?

Death Valley National Park is the largest national park in the contiguous United States.

The park covers about 3.4 million acres across eastern California and Nevada. It became a national park on October 31, 1994, when Congress expanded and redesignated the former Death Valley National Monument through the California Desert Protection Act.

Death Valley is known for extreme desert landscapes, including salt flats, sand dunes, badlands, canyons, and mountain ranges. Badwater Basin, at about 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in North America. The park is also recognized as the hottest, driest, and lowest of the U.S. national parks.

“Largest” can cause confusion because Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska is much larger overall. Death Valley holds the distinction specifically among national parks in the contiguous 48 states, excluding Alaska and Hawaii.