The System of National Parks

Old Faithful and the geyser basins inspired early explorers to pressure Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.  This became the first in a nation-wide "system of national parks."

NPS image by Bryan Harry.

Americans believe deeply that the most outstanding natural, scenic, cultural, and scientific heritage of the United States of America should be represented ultimately in a completed National Park System. The superb natural, cultural, scenic, and scientific attributes of the National Park of American Samoa are now an integral and significant component of this outstanding national park system.