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Distance & area

Nearest national park

Search for a place, use your location or click the map to see all 64 US national parks ranked by distance, with the drive to the closest ones.

Starting point
or click the mapor tap the map

Nearest national park

Rocky Mountain National Park

42.6 mi

to its boundary, as the crow flies · to the center 57.4 mi

Example From Denver, CO. Search for your place, use your location or click the map.

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Boundaries: National Park Service (public domain), simplified

Routing: FOSSGIS OSRM and Valhalla · data © OpenStreetMap contributors Missing a road? Fix it on OpenStreetMap

National parks by distance

National parks by distance
#ParkTo boundaryTo centerBy roadShow on map
1Rocky Mountain Colorado42.6 mi57.4 mi Route
2Great Sand Dunes Colorado130 mi140 mi Route
3Black Canyon of the Gunnison Colorado162 mi168 mi Route
4Mesa Verde Colorado248 mi256 mi Route
5Arches Utah250 mi256 mi Route
6Canyonlands Utah270 mi285 mi Route
7Wind Cave South Dakota271 mi277 mi Route
8Badlands South Dakota281 mi292 mi Route
9Capitol Reef Utah344 mi350 mi Route
10Grand Teton Wyoming395 mi408 mi Route

Straight-line distances to the nearest point of each park’s boundary. By road, to the road closest to that point, which isn’t necessarily an entrance. Times assume clear roads at each road’s normal speed: they don’t include traffic, lights or stops.

Next step

More tools to plan the trip.

Distance between two pointsThe route to the park by car, bike or on foot. Drive time mapHow far you can get in an hour’s drive from home. Elevation profileThe climb on the trail you plan to hike in the park.

All 64 US national parks

All 64 US national parks
National park State Established Area (acres) km²
Acadia Maine 1919 49,077 199
American Samoa American Samoa 1988 8,257 33
Arches Utah 1971 76,679 310
Badlands South Dakota 1978 242,743 982
Big Bend Texas 1944 801,162 3,242
Biscayne Florida 1980 172,971 700
Black Canyon of the Gunnison Colorado 1999 30,780 125
Bryce Canyon Utah 1928 35,835 145
Canyonlands Utah 1964 337,598 1,366
Capitol Reef Utah 1971 241,905 979
Carlsbad Caverns New Mexico 1930 46,766 189
Channel Islands California 1980 249,561 1,010
Chiricahua Arizona 2026 12,025 49
Congaree South Carolina 2003 26,693 108
Crater Lake Oregon 1902 183,224 741
Cuyahoga Valley Ohio 2000 32,607 132
Death Valley California, Nevada 1994 3,408,375 13,793
Denali Alaska 1917 4,740,911 19,186
Dry Tortugas Florida 1992 64,701 262
Everglades Florida 1947 1,508,939 6,106
Gates of the Arctic Alaska 1980 7,523,897 30,448
Gateway Arch Missouri, Illinois 2018 193 0.8
Glacier Montana 1910 1,013,126 4,100
Glacier Bay Alaska 1980 3,223,383 13,045
Grand Canyon Arizona 1919 1,201,647 4,863
Grand Teton Wyoming 1929 310,044 1,255
Great Basin Nevada 1986 77,180 312
Great Sand Dunes Colorado 2004 107,337 434
Great Smoky Mountains Tennessee, North Carolina 1934 522,427 2,114
Guadalupe Mountains Texas 1972 86,367 350
Haleakalā Hawaii 1916 33,489 136
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Hawaii 1916 344,812 1,395
Hot Springs Arkansas 1921 5,554 22
Indiana Dunes Indiana 2019 16,268 66
Isle Royale Michigan 1940 571,790 2,314
Joshua Tree California 1994 795,156 3,218
Katmai Alaska 1980 3,674,529 14,870
Kenai Fjords Alaska 1980 669,650 2,710
Kings Canyon California 1940 461,901 1,869
Kobuk Valley Alaska 1980 1,750,716 7,085
Lake Clark Alaska 1980 2,619,816 10,602
Lassen Volcanic California 1916 106,589 431
Mammoth Cave Kentucky 1941 72,042 292
Mesa Verde Colorado 1906 52,485 212
Mount Rainier Washington 1899 236,382 957
New River Gorge West Virginia 2020 72,405 293
North Cascades Washington 1968 504,781 2,043
Olympic Washington 1938 923,046 3,735
Petrified Forest Arizona 1962 221,390 896
Pinnacles California 2013 26,686 108
Redwood California 1968 139,091 563
Rocky Mountain Colorado 1915 265,918 1,076
Saguaro Arizona 1994 92,800 376
Sequoia California 1890 404,063 1,635
Shenandoah Virginia 1935 200,454 811
Theodore Roosevelt North Dakota 1978 70,446 285
Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands 1956 15,041 61
Voyageurs Minnesota 1975 218,223 883
White Sands New Mexico 2019 146,344 592
Wind Cave South Dakota 1903 33,971 137
Wrangell-St. Elias Alaska 1980 8,323,146 33,683
Yellowstone Idaho, Montana, Wyoming 1872 2,219,791 8,983
Yosemite California 1890 761,748 3,083
Zion Utah 1919 147,243 596

Area: gross area within the boundary from the NPS acreage report of September 30, 2026, federal and non-federal land, in acres (1 square mile = 640 acres). Year: when it became a national park, even if it was protected earlier as a national monument or under another name.

How to use it

  1. Choose your starting point

    Type a town, an address or coordinates, press “Use my location”, or click anywhere on the map.

  2. See the parks by distance

    The list ranks all 64 parks by straight-line distance to the nearest point of each park’s boundary, with the distance to its center next to it.

  3. Get the drive

    Press “Get driving distance” for the road miles and drive time to the 15 nearest parks you can drive to. From each park you can show it on the map or open the route.

What it’s for

  • Weekend trips

    See which national park is closest and how long the drive is, and compare it with the next ones on the list.

  • Road trips

    From your home or your hotel, see which parks are within a day’s drive and which are worth a detour.

  • Moving or traveling

    Check how far a city is from the big parks before you choose where to live or where to stay.

  • School projects

    Use the table of all 64 parks, with their states, the year they became national parks and their area, for a class or a report.

How it’s worked out

The distance is the shortest straight line (the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, computed with GeographicLib) from your point to the nearest point of each park’s boundary. If you’re inside a park, the distance is zero. The distance to the center uses a point inside the park, in its widest part: the geometric centroid can fall outside parks made of several pieces.

Boundaries are the legislated park boundaries from the National Park Service Land Resources Division, simplified to 200 meters so the map loads fast: the distance to the boundary can be off by about 200 meters (650 feet).

Driving distance and time come from OSRM, with OpenStreetMap roads, on the free FOSSGIS server. The route goes to the road closest to the boundary point nearest to you, not to a specific entrance or visitor center, so the drive to the main entrance can be longer. Times assume clear roads.

Some parks have no road to them: Dry Tortugas, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier Bay, Isle Royale, Katmai, Kobuk Valley and Lake Clark are reached by small plane or boat, and Channel Islands only by boat, according to each park’s directions page. American Samoa, Haleakalā, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes and Virgin Islands can only be driven to from the same island; from anywhere else the tool tells you that you need to cross the sea instead of giving a route.

US national parks in numbers

The United States has 64 national parks. The oldest is Yellowstone (1872) and the newest Chiricahua (October 20, 2026). California has the most (9), followed by Alaska (8).

The largest by official area is Wrangell-St. Elias (8,323,146 acres, 33,683 km²) and the smallest Gateway Arch (193 acres, 0.8 km²).

Example: from downtown Denver, the nearest is Rocky Mountain National Park, 42.6 mi from its boundary as the crow flies (57.4 mi to its center).

Frequently asked questions

How many national parks are there in the US?

64, according to the National Park Service. The newest is Chiricahua, in Arizona, a national park since October 20, 2026; before it, New River Gorge (2020).

What is the oldest national park?

Yellowstone, established in 1872. The table gives the year each park became a national park; many were protected earlier as national monuments.

Which national park is the largest, and which is the smallest?

By official gross area, the largest is Wrangell-St. Elias (8,323,146 acres, 33,683 km²) and the smallest is Gateway Arch (193 acres, 0.8 km²).

Which state has the most national parks?

California, with 9, followed by Alaska, with 8. Parks that cross state lines count for each state.

Can you drive to every national park?

No. Dry Tortugas, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier Bay, Isle Royale, Katmai, Kobuk Valley and Lake Clark have no road to them (you fly in or take a boat), and Channel Islands can only be reached by boat. American Samoa, Haleakalā, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes and Virgin Islands can be driven to only from the same island.

Is the distance to the park entrance?

No: it’s to the nearest point of the park boundary, in a straight line. The driving distance goes to the road closest to that point, which may not be an entrance or have parking. For entrances, visitor centers, fees and road closures, check each park’s official site.

Are national preserves, monuments or seashores included?

No, only the units designated as national parks. Where a park shares its name with a national preserve (Denali, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier Bay, Great Sand Dunes, Katmai, Lake Clark and Wrangell-St. Elias), the map shows only the park; New River Gorge is shown together with its preserve, as the NPS maps it.

Is my location stored?

Mapsfera doesn’t store it: straight-line distances are worked out in your browser. If you search for a place, what you type goes to the address search (Photon); if you ask for the drive, your point and the park points go to the FOSSGIS routing server, which keeps them in its logs.

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