Which U.S. park is widely regarded as the world's first national park, established in 1872?

Yellowstone National Park is widely regarded as the world's first national park, established in 1872. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act on March 1 of that year, setting aside the area as a public park.

The park occupies the northwest corner of Wyoming, with smaller sections in Montana and Idaho. Its protection created a model for preserving spectacular landscapes for public enjoyment rather than selling or developing them. Native peoples, however, had used and traveled through the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years, so the idea of an untouched wilderness overlooks a much longer human history.

Yellowstone is also the first national park in the United States, while its status as the world's first depends on how “national park” is defined. Earlier protected landscapes existed in other forms, but Yellowstone is the conventional answer. It is known for Old Faithful, abundant wildlife, and one of the world's largest active volcanic systems.