TheaterFire

What should be a national park but isnt?

Posted by colepercy120@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 151 comments

So what landmark or natural feature should be a national park but currently isn't. (If you want to include national monuments feel free)

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151 Comments

Whogaf01@reddit

The Apostle Islands and/or Pictured Rocks
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BananaMapleIceCream@reddit

As a Yooper, we absolutely don’t want that much recognition/tourism.
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thenerdygeek@reddit

Pictured Rocks is basically a national park, just under a different name. It’s managed by the national parks service and features the same sorts of amenities, takes the same passes, etc.
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Used_Emotion_1386@reddit

Came here to say the same. Lake Superior is a treasure that is wildly under-appreciated outside of the Midwest (though maybe that isn’t a bad thing - both of those get enough visitors as is)
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katinthehat0@reddit

Crater of diamonds state park in Arkansas
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good4steve@reddit

Monument Valley, which is basically a national park, but privately run by the Navajo Nation. Any of the slot canyons in Utah.
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waltc97@reddit

To your last point, some of the San Rafael swell would be nice. 
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Lurkalope@reddit

Why should it be a national park when it already protected? You're suggesting taking even more land away from indigenous people.
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good4steve@reddit

I interpreted the question as "worthy of national park status," not "this should be administered by the National Park Service." I'm completely fine with how it is currently administered by the Navajo Nation.
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On_my_last_spoon@reddit

So many national parks are on lands stolen from native Americans. So this is not really a good one
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frisky_husky@reddit

I think saying that Monument Valley is privately run is misleading. It's the sovereign tribal territory of the Navajo Nation, and it is administered by the Navajo government as a tribal park. It's still public land, it's just administered by a tribal government rather than a state or federal one.
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LifeApprehensive2818@reddit

Monument Valley would be tricky.  If it were a national park,  the Navajo would lose a lot of their rights to the land.  If there's a problem with conservation, it'd be good to work with them to improve protections, but if this is just over admissions fees, then that's their prerogative.
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PacSan300@reddit

Na Pali Coast in Kauai. Perhaps combine it with nearby Waimea Canyon. A National Park in Big Sur, perhaps formed from a combination of the existing State Parks (such as Point Lobos and Pfeiffer Big Sur).
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CG20370417@reddit

No. Keep Big Sur, obscure. You make it a NP and suddenly the Monterey Peninsula isnt the "end" of civilization for the next 120 miles, nor is Morro Bay/ Pismo on the other end. Suddenly they are the jumping off points for a NP. and the lazy, small town, "time moves slower here" vibe goes away. The hippies living in the hills without running water, go away. The commune culture out there gives way to park rangers and federal lands. Frankly this is how I feel about most places that havent become NPs already. If the NP designation doesnt offer immediate protection such that without it, we would be in danger of losing it altogether, I think generally, making things a NP would just generate unwanted economic attention. Just think of all the fanfare that would surround a new batch of National Parks. Consider how monetization obsessed we are in the modern world, and stuffed to capacity our most famous parks get in peak season. I grew up on the Monterey Peninsula and my parents live in Kauai now. Those two places are currently perfect, and don't need any more attention. People do find them on their own, a giant billboard pointing to them would ruin them--imo.
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spongeboy1985@reddit

Pretty sure The Pinnacles still gets pretty low tourism even after going from a National Monument to a National Park. Probably same thing would happen in other obscure parks if they get NP status.
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RepublicOfVenus@reddit

Mississippi
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SchnTgaiSpork@reddit

The Lost 40 near Black duck, MN
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colepercy120@reddit (OP)

Ill toss my own in, Lake Itasca and the Mississippi headwaters.
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mjc500@reddit

Wow that’s kind of crazy that it’s not - good call
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East_Honey2533@reddit

Already a state park 🤷‍♂️
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wildlycrazytony@reddit

The oldest state park in Minnesota and second-oldest in the country.
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betterbetterthings@reddit

Porcupine mountains in UP Michigan. It’s small though so maybe that’s why it’s not. It’s a state park.
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ajfoscu@reddit

The Adirondack Park
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frisky_husky@reddit

I'm kind of glad that it isn't, because I think that the restrictions on what you can and can't do inside the Blue Line, regardless of whether the land is private or public, actually does more to protect the ecosystem that what you would get by just handing over the public portions to the NPS. Unlike National Parks, the forever wild status of the Adirondack Park is constitutionally enshrined, which makes it much more legally durable.
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SEND_ME_FEAT_PICS@reddit

I'll also add that The Adirondacks is such a unique take on conservation that wouldn't really work as a national park.
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frisky_husky@reddit

Yeah, the Adirondack model (which is, of course, also used in the Catskill Park) is very different from the American legal definition of a national park, but actually pretty similar to the British model, just on a larger scale. This makes sense to me, since Britain's parks were also established in a region that had already been significantly transformed by human activity and industrialization--most of the Adirondacks had already been logged when the park was established. The UK didn't really have huge contiguous swaths of public land the way the US and Canada do, so they had to design conservation strategies that predominantly applied to private land in settled areas through strict land use restrictions. The public component is larger in New York, but private inholdings within the Adirondack and Catskill Parks are regulated similarly to private land in National Parks in the UK.
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orpheus1980@reddit

A lot of national parks were basically on land straight up stolen from native American nations & tribes. Why there are so many of them West of the Mississippi. And also why the federal government didn't create a single national park in the Northeast. Acadia was created by billionaires and given to the country. Adirondacks & Catskills are also on a lot of land straight up stolen from the Haudenosaunee and the Lenape respectively. But the stealing was done well before the blue line model came into existence. I agree that it's a much better model for conservation in the long term.
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Yunzer2000@reddit

Shenandoah National Park was established on a severely human impacted area from a huge number of small private tracts of land. Most of the park was not forested when the park was established in the 1930s. For years, there were a lot of hard feelings among the familiies of the small subsistence farmers whose land was taken by eminent-domain purchases. The Great Smoky Mountains NP was similar.
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frisky_husky@reddit

Super interesting. I had no idea.
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mcfaite@reddit

The Adirondacks are extraordinary, but I'd argue that they in all their majesty should remain a state park.
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thatsad_guy@reddit

I used to live there. I miss it every day.
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IconoclastExplosive@reddit

Portland, OR. The whole metro area. We need signage about the locals like they have about bison in Yellowstone.
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MemeStarNation@reddit

So many places man. Na Pali, Waimea Canyon, Big Four Ice Caves, Leslie Gulch, Alvord Desert, Bonneville Salt Flats, Craters of the Moon, Grand-Staircase Escalante, Nebraska Sandhills, Custer State Park, Tettegouche, Driftless area, Pictured Rocks, Apostle Islands, Hocking Hills, PA Grand Canyon, Adirondack High Peaks, White Mountains, Katahdin, the cave behind the Shell gas station in Page, AZ…
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humble-meercat@reddit

Marine reserves. We should have more of them!
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AnchoviePopcorn@reddit

Red River Gorge
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macadaywx@reddit

This is a good shout. It’s already getting swamped by visitors and the forest service is unequipped to manage it. It’s also just a brilliant place.
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gangleskhan@reddit

The Driftless Region in Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa/Illinois. There was a (small) effort to push for one in Minnesota (Driftless Rivers Nat. Park Foundation | National Park creation https://share.google/vt2xMU9f37JJg5MTL) but I believe it was scrapped after resistance from local farmers.
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macadaywx@reddit

Just chiming in late to say that the Minnesota proposal indeed have some push back, but the one you linked is a seperate and older proposal based around Crawford county, Wisconsin - which to my knowledge is inactive. Here was the proposal from a few years back. Website doesn’t exist anymore. https://docs.google.com/document/d/19Pn77UH9iQLqSIDS0-hU7rxwHN_REWEIn4ukmWGoWaM/edit?usp=drivesdk
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PYTN@reddit

Cool!
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KikiCorwin@reddit

Buffington Island battlefield and the nearby Native American burial mounds. They need the protection from mining
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RedKe@reddit

Goblin Valley State Park Mount St Helens and some of the national forest land between it and Mt Adams
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Sam_Fear@reddit

Scrolled to find Goblin Valley! One of the best parks in Utah and there are some of the heaviest hitters in that state.
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us287@reddit

Probably a National Forest to increase protection (because upgrading a national monument is cool but doesn’t do much comparatively for conservation). San Juans in southern CO and good chunks of the Coconino in AZ are my top picks.
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TruckADuck42@reddit

Yeah, but we need timber and there are other things that us as individuals can do in a national forest that we can't in a national park, like hunting and camping out in the woods (there are campgrounds in national parks, but they're heavily regulated. You can't even gather kindling for a fire, and forget backpacking or anything like that.) They serve different purposes.
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No-Lunch4249@reddit

This is one of the biggest miscomceptions about National Forests. National Forests are *managed* but not necessarily *protected* The National Forest Service was created to ensure the US always had a sustainable supply of timber. The Forest Service is part of the Department of Agriculture, not Interior like the Parks Service
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us287@reddit

Exactly why they’d be better candidates for a question like this than a national monument, because the new designation would shift the goal of the region from management to protection
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tara_tara_tara@reddit

I would like to add El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico to the list. It’s the only tropical rainforest in our National Forest system.
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us287@reddit

I was thinking that one too but I didn’t want to say it because I haven’t been (also Tongass in AK)
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PabloTFiccus@reddit

Yo mamas bush
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redhousecat@reddit

James Monroe House in Virginia.
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Meekanado@reddit

Valley of Fire, Nevada
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_WillCAD_@reddit

I love that place, but it's already a state park, so the state of Nevada would have to sell or donate the land to the US government.
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uReallyShouldTrustMe@reddit

Or do a joint thing like Redwoods.
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saggywitchtits@reddit

Can I do the opposite? A National Park that shouldn't be? Because I nominate the Gateway Arch. I'm not saying it's not important, but it should fall under national monuments.
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youtheotube2@reddit

On I-40 east of Barstow CA you start driving through a lava flow from an extinct volcano in the area. Off one of the exits there’s an old mining road that takes you to a cinder cone called Lavic Lake. If you’ve ever been to Volcanos National Park in Hawaii, this place feels very similar, but it’s super out of place in the California desert. The place isn’t even a California state park
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goretsky@reddit

Hello, The [Garden of the Gods](https://gardenofgods.com/) Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado is a National Natural Landmark, but not a National Park. It is, however, a *city* park, and feature some amazing [geologic features](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_the_Gods#Geological_formations). Regards, Aryeh Goretsky
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BabaMouse@reddit

The Hetch-Hetchy Valley. Just a valley or two over from Yosemite.
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RobVPdx@reddit

The one i haven’t seen mentioned is Fort Stevens SP in Oregon, Fort Columbia SP in WA, and Cape Disappointment SP in Washington. These three parks ring the mouth of the Columbia and have killer views of the river and the ocean. There is a ton of history there: Natjve Americans, Lewis and Clark, The Astor Company, 19th and 30th Century shipwrecks, a WWII attack by the Japanese, and the fishing industry. There is already a nearby Lewis and Clark National Historic Site, which is good, but small.
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ParanoidSkier@reddit

Craters of the Moon, ID
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sharpshooter999@reddit

We drove through there on our only visit to Idaho, didn't even know it was a thing till we came across it. I definitely want to take the kids there someday
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Bright_Ices@reddit

Idaho is geologically and ecologically *amazing*. North to south and east to west, it has some of the most fascinating, unique, and beautiful places on Earth. And that’s coming from me, a person who grew up in Utah, which absolutely vies for a top spot on the Top 10 list.
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RubGlum4395@reddit

Sawtooth National Forest including Redfish Lake.
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XRayZen84@reddit

I agree, good call. It is however a National Monument & Preserve currently and the campground is unique and cool.
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colepercy120@reddit (OP)

Oh definitely that's one of the coolest places ive ever been!
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Fred42096@reddit

If you disregard the fact that NP status can actually make an area harder to protect (increased visitors), these come to mind: Davis Mountains, TX Palo Duro, TX Wichita Mountains, OK Winding Stair Mountains, OK Black Mesa, OK The delta region of Alabama The White Mountains of NH The Adirondacks Sleeping Bear Dunes, MI Something not Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills Some of these are technically already administered by the NPS but aren’t conventional national parks. The Davis Mountains are managed by the Nature Conservancy.
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phonemannn@reddit

Indiana’s dunes getting to be a national park before sleeping bear is a travesty
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flp_ndrox@reddit

The only problem with the Dunes is that a lot of the prettiest parts are already a state park.
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PYTN@reddit

Going big on adding a bunch of new national parks would spread the visitors out more, so that would help some.
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Extreme_Turn_4531@reddit

Good list but Sleeping Bear already is a National Park Plan Your Visit - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (U.S. National Park Service) https://share.google/gZGZnHxlsHqlvLCHj
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Fred42096@reddit

I am aware that it is a NPS-administered national lakeshore. I felt I was clear with my disclaimer that I meant that none are conventional national parks, even if they are already under the NPS’s management as a type of national-thing.
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Extreme_Turn_4531@reddit

Whoa! Calm down there, Francis. If you're making posts that require disclaimers, maybe next time leave them off the list. To the average person, and for the purposes of this thread, there isn't a lick of difference between a NPS National Lakeshore and a National Park.
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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

Davis Mountains was very underrated. Great state park there. The historic For Davis was very interesting to visit.
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Fred42096@reddit

The state park is so tiny compared to the mountains though, it barely even gets into them. I’d love to be able to access the actual mountains (more than the ~2 weekends a year they’re open to the public via reservation). Though I do think the current system is probably the best for the local ecosystem.
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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

Yeah I’d love to go backpacking there if it was open to that.
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Majestic-Macaron6019@reddit

The Mobile River Delta should absolutely be a national park. I grew up in Mobile, and I never quite realized how special that place is until I was older.
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Fred42096@reddit

Most biodiverse place on the continent iirc
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Majestic-Macaron6019@reddit

Not overall, but it's got a huge amount of aquatic biodiversity. Loads of endemic fish, mollusks, and crustaceans.
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TheBimpo@reddit

Sleeping bear dunes is a national Lakeshore and part of the national park system
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Fred42096@reddit

>some of these are technically already administered by the NPS but aren’t conventional national parks. I know
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leighalan@reddit

Yes to Palo Duro. Texas is such a NPS desert.
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Fred42096@reddit

I’d also accept the Caprocks (better than PD imo) but part of their appeal is how quiet they are lol
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leighalan@reddit

I’m biased to Palo Duro, being from the Panhandle and growing up there.
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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

Both are great. Palo Duro has more visitors and more amenities. Caprock is more remote, less crowded, but fewer amenities. Bad for RV camping, great for tent camping.
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KnitSocksHardRocks@reddit

Driftless area. It is an area never covered by glaciers. The glaciers went around them. It has a unique geologic feature. Algific talus slopes. They are slopes on top of karst limestone. They are naturally air conditioned 30-50f. Great in summer! It is where my favorite invertebrate lives. The Iowa Pleistocene snail.
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PYTN@reddit

Drove through last winter and was shocked how much it largely reminded me of the smokies. Such a cool area.
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Forsythia77@reddit

Muir Woods!
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Mustang_man_351@reddit

Adirondack Park New York
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Aeon1508@reddit

Sleeping Bear dunes
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CPRTheReddit@reddit

My backyard
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Red_Beard_Rising@reddit

Starved Rock state park is awesome and I'm afraid the feds would ruin it if it became a national park.
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xRVAx@reddit

Mackinaw Island
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SnowblindAlbino@reddit

If you mean Mackinac Island, it's a good trivia question as it's the only *former* national park. It was a US National Park, the second after Yellowstone, but ultimately the feds decided it wasn't good enough so they gave it back to the state.
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Isodrosotherms@reddit

Maybe the only former national park that no longer belongs to the federal government, but Platt National Park no longer exists.
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Reduak@reddit

The US side Niagara Falls and Pike's Peak.
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Archercrash@reddit

Big Sur
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wpotman@reddit

I would say the BWCA in Minnesota, but...yeah, how about not?
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RaptorRex787@reddit

The great salt lake, its respective islands and the wetlands/shorelines
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sexwizard9000@reddit

i'm a little biased but i think some of the old growth forest in southern indiana should be a national park
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Gunhaver4077@reddit

Okefenokee Swamp, GA
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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]
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AutoModerator@reddit

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Excellent-Pitch-7579@reddit

Waimea Canyon on Kauai
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SnowblindAlbino@reddit

Hell's Canyon, Oregon-Idaho border. They tried but couldn't get the votes in Congress.
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sermitthesog@reddit

I would say White Mountains National Forest in NH, but making it a National Park would impose lots of new rules and procedures that would cramp the style of a lot of the usage and enjoyment of the region.
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Js987@reddit

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assateague\_Island\_National\_Seashore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assateague_Island_National_Seashore) There isn’t a coastal National Park covering any of the eastern barrier islands and it’s a short distance from three major metropolitan areas, plus it’s already preserved. Could easily lump in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chincoteague\_National\_Wildlife\_Refuge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chincoteague_National_Wildlife_Refuge)
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Reverend_Bull@reddit

Cumberland Falls, KY. Home of a very rare consistent moonbow.
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BizarroMax@reddit

Cahokia Mounds in Illinois.
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UJMRider1961@reddit

Ship Rock in New Mexico. It's on Navajo Tribal Land so they administer it as a sacred Tribal site, so it's not like it isn't protected, but it's spectacular. You can see it from at least 50 - 60 miles away.
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tntuszynski@reddit

[Antelope Canyon, Arizona](https://visitfourcorners.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Antelope-Canyon-trail.png)
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No-Pickle-8200@reddit

Antelope Canyon is on Native land. Making it a nation park (and therefore government property) would mean taking it from its rightful owners. It is a beautiful place but I wouldn’t approve of that as a move!
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Kellaniax@reddit

Not necessarily. There’s Seminole reservations in Everglades National park. A place can be both a reservation and a national park.
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mads_61@reddit

There’s also two reservations in the Grand Canyon.
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EpicAura99@reddit

Monument Valley is on the Navajo reservation so it’s a tribal park
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Excellent-Gold1905@reddit

Most places you'd consider are either native lands (which people would get pissy about nationalizing) or are state parks and converting a state park to a national park often doesn't do much practically. Though I could see situations where a state is struggling to take care of a large state park so it becomes a national one.
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ATLien_3000@reddit

Your question presumes national park status is a good thing. So long as a place is protected (and to my knowledge everything listed at the time I'm posting is) all national park status does is vastly increase visitor numbers (to the point in some cases that development encroaches increasing risk).
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DoTheRightThing1953@reddit

Mar-a-lago. It was built by Marjorie Post. When she died it was given to the national park service with the intention of being a summer white house.
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Seidhr96@reddit

Cumberland National Seashore with the surrounding marshland of North Florida and South Georgia I think provides a unique biome that would serve well as a national park rather than a national seashore to protect the marshes that are more in-land, while still preserving the coast, and bringing more tourism into the small coastal towns. They could also combine this with several state parks in the area as well as another national historic site
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_WillCAD_@reddit

Red Rock Canyon National Recreation Area. It's awesome, it's already run by the NPS, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be a park in its own right. Ditto for Lake Meade.
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Wolf482@reddit

Mackinac Island used to be a national park but was reduced to a state park due to funding troubles. I think it getting that status back would be cool.
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External-Creme-6226@reddit

Horseshoe Bend
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thotleader_@reddit

Apollo 11 landing site
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Altruistic_Relief189@reddit

Valley of Fire Nevada. It's a state park now but it needs more protection.
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hipmommie@reddit

Eagle Cap Wilderness, in NE Oregon. But maybe I ought to shhhhh
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one_fun_couple@reddit

Niagara Falls, Sedona, Big Sur, monument valley, havasu falls
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one_fun_couple@reddit

Niagara Falls
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Rogue_Centurion7@reddit

San Juan Mountains in Colorado or the Crazy Horse Memorial
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footstepsoffsand@reddit

Franklin Mountain/El Paso,Tx
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PacSan300@reddit

It’s crazy how the massive state of Texas has only two National Parks.
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footstepsoffsand@reddit

Incidetly,Just below Eranin Mt.,there's an empty lot w/no endangered plants (just sand) that has been dedicated a state park.Less than a block long and not very wide(?).
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Somhairle77@reddit

Where does the Constitution authorize national parks?
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colepercy120@reddit (OP)

Article 4, Section 3, Clause 2. "*The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State."* National Parks are legally federal property, either donated by the states or made out of federal land never turned over to a state by an act of congress
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Sleepy_Programmer@reddit

Custer State Park, South Dakota.
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ReadingRainbowie@reddit

Hard agree
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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

I'd have to rate this as the best state park that I've been to. After that, the one I most want to visit is Baxter state park.
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OkArmy7059@reddit

Nowhere. I'd rather see places be designated as wilderness areas than national parks.
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Clemario@reddit

Sedona would be a national park if there wasn’t already a city.
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Penguin_Life_Now@reddit

Honestly so many national monuments have been converted into national parks, with absolutely no facilities modifications in the last 20 years or so, that I start to question the distinction anymore.
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colepercy120@reddit (OP)

i don't think there is a diffrence on the visitor side, the primary diffrence is that the president can make monuments, while national parks have to be declared by congress
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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

Many of them definitely deserve it, even if they don't have as many amenities as larger parks. A good example is White Sands national park.
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dorvann@reddit

Meteor Crater (Barringer Crater), Arizona
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katolinat@reddit

Chugach National Forest
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Livid_Cantaloupe2889@reddit

Craters of the Moon, Valley of Fire, Mount Hood, White Mountains There are a lot of state parks and national forests that were supposed to become national parks, but never did because of states not wanting the tourists and such
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tyoung89@reddit

Aren’t National Forests still protected under the national parks system?
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JustHomer68@reddit

Flint Hills, KS - Tall Grass national prairie reserve.
View on Reddit #77350667

FivePercentRule@reddit

Wish you could backpack that area though I understand why you can’t. Beautiful place.
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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

You can do that in Pawnee National Grassland
View on Reddit #77351522

G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

Chiricahua National Monument and Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument
View on Reddit #77351482

RealKhonsu@reddit

Monongahela National Forest, WV
View on Reddit #77350963

RobbieRigel@reddit

Garden of the Gods National Wilderness in Southern IL. Way better then Cuyahoga National Park.
View on Reddit #77350611

FivePercentRule@reddit

Just went there last February for an overnight camp. Cold! But picturesque.
View on Reddit #77350763

Flat_Winter@reddit

Pretty much all of southern Utah.
View on Reddit #77350643