78% of Americans Prefer U.S. National Parks as Vacation Option Over Theme Parks
Americans are more likely to consider visiting a U.S. national park as a vacation option than a theme park, according to an April 2019 National Park Awareness Survey, conducted by L.A.-based special interest news network PASHpost. Vacation Option
While 78% of respondents put a higher premium on vacationing at a national park than a U.S. theme park, 97% of those surveyed believe America’s national parks hold an important place in the country’s cultural legacy, worthy of maintaining. The survey was conducted among Americans age 18+ in recognition of National Park Week, the presidentially proclaimed week beginning April 20 through April 28.
For many, national parks conjure up images of lush, park-like settings, natural habitats of mountain vistas and fields of green—most certainly an accurate depiction of familiar national park destinations like Yosemite, the Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. While more than 75% of respondents associate national parks with nature and wilderness, fewer than 15% were aware that the national park system also includes historic buildings or national landmarks.
The United States has 63 protected areas known as national parks that are operated by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. National parks must be established by an act of the United States Congress. A bill creating the first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Mackinac National Park in 1875 (decommissioned in 1895), and then Rock Creek Park (later merged into National Capital Parks), Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890.
423 national park sites in the US
