Mt. McKinley in Denali National Park NPS Photo

Denali National Park contains North America’s highest mountain, 20,320-foot Mount McKinley. Large glaciers of the Alaska Range, caribou, Dall sheep, moose, grizzly bears, and timber wolves are other highlights of this national park and preserve.

Denali National Park was established as Mt. McKinley National Park February 26, 1917. A separate Denali National Monument was proclaimed December 1, 1978. Both parks were incorporated into Denali National Park and Preserve on December 2, 1980. Denali was designated a Biosphere Reserve 1976.

Kings Canyon National Park Picture by NPS

Kings Canyon National Park includes two enormous canyons of the Kings River and the summit peaks of the High Sierra dominate this mountain wilderness. Kings Canyon shares a border with Sequoia National Park.

Kings Canyon was established as General Grant National Park Oct. 1, 1890; renamed and enlarged into Kings Canyon National Park on March 4, 1940. Kings Canyon was designated a Biosphere Reserve 1976.

Total Acreage: 461,901, Federal: 461,845, Nonfederal: 55, Wilderness area: 456,552

General Sherman Tree, Sequoia NP Picture by NPS

Sequoia National Park’s great groves of giant sequoias, one of the world’s largest living things, Mineral King Valley, and Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the U.S. outside of Alaska, are spectacular attractions here in the High Sierra. Kings Canyon NP shares a northern border with Sequoia NP.

Sequoia was established as a National Park September 25, 1890 and was designated a Biosphere Reserve 1976.

Total Acreage:404,051, Federal:403,875, Nonfederal:175, Wilderness area: 280,428

Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park NPS Photo

Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive winds along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains for 105 miles. The park, which includes 300 square miles of the southern Appalachians, offers the area’s most famous scenic roadway and hiking trails (including the Appalachian Trail), wildlife viewing points, and an ever-changing hardwood forest.

Shenandoah NP was established Dec. 26, 1935 and dedicated July 3, 1936.

Total Acreage:199,045, Federal: 198,250, Nonfederal:794, Wilderness area: 79,579.

Elkhorn Reef, Biscayne National Park Photo by NPS

Biscayne National Park includes subtropical islands that form a north-south chain, with Biscayne Bay on the west and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. The park protects interrelated marine systems including mangrove shoreline, bay communities, subtropical keys, and the northernmost coral reef in the United States.

Biscayne was created as a National Monument October 18, 1968 and redesignated as a National Park on June 28, 1980.

Acreage-172,924 Federal: 170,955 Nonfederal:1,968 Land area: 4,446