On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant established Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone isn’t just the first national park in the United States—it also is the first national park anywhere in the world. The park’s creation also set flight to a loftier idea, that the beauty and wonder of natural lands should be protected, preserved, and made available to all. The National Park Service (NPS) was founded in 1916 to manage such lands—then numbering at 35—and it continues to embody this mission today.
Over the next century, NPS would see its purview grow to 63 national parks and more than 400 other historic sites across all 50 states. These include lakeshores, battlefields, monuments, memorials, rivers, and trails. More than 1,000 maps currently exist for these sites.
From Acadia to Zion, NPS has mapped our national parks and other designated sites with exquisite detail. Each map is worthy of deep study and appreciation, with thoughtful design showcasing some of the best cartography in the field. These maps boast clear and careful symbology and many design decisions that have been rigorously tested. The maps utilize abstraction, simplification, and realism in situationally appropriate ways. And despite their numbers and the variety of their subject matter, they all carry a design DNA that makes them uniquely and immediately recognizable.
Best of all, the National Park Service maps are yours to view, download, print, and even use in your own work. Even more, the cartographers behind the scenes are delighted to show you exactly how they do it, with links to textures, data files, and tutorials from NPS staff and others.
NPS was founded more than a century ago. And the agency remains, quite literally, at your service.
More to Explore
- Learn from Tom Pattterson, a renowned and recently retired NPS cartographer.
- Access data files and resources from NPS.
- Read how NPS cartographers updated their map style to be more realistic and understandable.
