What is a national park?

Most people are familiar with national parks even if they are not entirely sure what they are. There are some pretty important differences between a national park and other parks. For the most part this will come down to how well protected the area is. In most cases a national park will offer the best protection to the environment so it is used for the most sensitive areas.

A national park is an area of land that is owned by the federal government. Obviously not all of the land that the government owns is a national park; it has to be designated as such by the government. In addition it is generally accepted that to qualify the land must not have been significantly affected by settlement or exploitation and that the public must have access to the park. There are however exceptions to this rule. In addition the park must normally be maintained by the government.

The reason for the creation of national parks is to make sure that certain areas are not damaged by exploitation. In most cases this is because they have a unique ecosystem but it also may be simply that the government has decided that they want to protect a certain area from being developed. Since these are the goals of a national park there are strict rules about what can be done within the bounds of a park. Certain development can occur in order to provide necessary infrastructure for visitors like roads but this is strictly controlled and is done in a way that will be as unobtrusive as possible.

National parks were first created out of necessity when it was decided that Yellowstone should be protected. Up until that time all of the protected areas in the country belonged to the states and were listed as state parks. At that time however Yellowstone was in an area that had not yet been granted statehood and therefore could not create a state park. As the railroad brought people into the area it soon became clear that without protection the area would be settled and damaged as the result of exploitation. As a result the federal government made the decision to create a national park.

These days there is an extensive national park system and most other countries also have their own national parks. These parks are for the most part widely used by visitors; however some of them are in very inaccessible areas. Most parks offer things like camping and visitors centers that can be used by people who want to visit the area. As a result national parks are widely used as a vacation spot. Many people will plan their vacation specifically to visit a park. Given how many there are there is a lot of variety when it comes to vacation destinations.