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List of US State Parks by State
As of the 2010 US Census, the United States has 3,675 state parks in the United States.
State parks are parks or other protected areas of the United States for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreation, or other reason, and under the administration of the government of a U.S. state.
State parks are similar to national parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g. regional parks or county parks. In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions, such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California.
In the United States, state parks have an older history than national parks. In 1864, when the federal government saw the need to protect the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove, Abraham Lincoln ceded the land to California as a state park. This was because, at the time, preservation of land for the public was seen as a proper role for the states rather than the federal government.
Later the state park was incorporated into Yosemite National Park. The oldest state park is Georgia's Indian Springs State Park. Since around 1825, Indian Springs has been operated continuously by the state as a public park, although it did not gain the title "State Park" until 1931.
In 1893 Pennsylvania operated Valley Forge as a state-owned park. The first state park with the designation of "state park" was Mackinac Island State Park when Mackinac National Park, the nation's second park created in 1875, was transferred from federal control to the State of Michigan in 1895.
Many state park systems date to the 1930s, when dozens of state parks across the country were established with assistance from the Civilian Conservation Corps.
This page contains a list of US State Parks organized by states.
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