State park
State parks are or other managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state, some of the Mexican states, and in Brazil. The term is also used in the of and New South Wales. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium, is provincial park. Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies.
State parks are thus similar to , but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., or . In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska, or Adirondack State Park in New York, the largest state park in the United States.
In addition to preserving natural landscapes and providing recreational opportunities, many state parks also serve as important educational resources. They often offer guided tours, interpretive programs, and exhibits that help visitors learn about the local flora, fauna, geology, and cultural history of the area. These programs are designed not only to enhance the visitor experience but also to promote conservation awareness and encourage responsible enjoyment of natural resources.
State parks by country
United States
Many states include designations beyond "state park" in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state , state beaches, and state . Some state park systems include long-distance trails and . To encourage tourism in rural areas, several states have simple lodges, inns, hotels, or motels (usually with a restaurant) for lodging at some parks. These typically use "Resort" in the name, such as "_____ Resort State Park" in West Virginia state parks and "_____ State Resort Park" in neighboring Kentucky state parks, which has 17 such resort parks, the most of any state. Other states use the Resort name inconsistently (like DeGray Lake Resort State Park, the only one out of three resorts in Arkansas state parks), or have only one such park (South Carolina state parks' Hickory Knob State Resort Park), or do not use the designation at all (such as the lodges of Georgia state parks). The term "lodge" may also refer to a hiking lodge, essentially a large cabin for hikers rather than a large facility with private rooms and a restaurant. Other lodging may include and .
Some parks are called "State Natural Areas", for example in the Wisconsin State Natural Areas program.
Not all parks owned by a state are necessarily part of its state-park system, such as Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Some Texas state parks are a land lease from the U.S. government, while Mackinac National Park was handed down to become the first of the Michigan state parks. As with national parks, facilities at state parks are often leased to to operate. Breaks Interstate Park is operated under an interstate compact by Virginia state parks, although it is also one of the Kentucky state parks, straddling both sides of the state line. Other multi-state parks are legally two separate parks with the same name and more informal cooperation between them.
History
Many state park systems date to the 1930s, when around 800 state parks (and several national ones) across the country were developed with assistance from federal job-creation programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration.
On February 24, 2025, Google said that it would change all parks labelled "state parks" in Canada to "" on Google Maps. This issue predated the Trump administration but gained attention after Trump stated that he would like Canada to become the 51st state.
Brazil
See also
- Lists of state parks by U.S. state
- National Wilderness Preservation System (United States)
- State forest
- Regional park
- Open space reserve
Further reading
- Ahlgren, Carol. "The Civilian Conservation Corps and Wisconsin State Park Development." Wisconsin Magazine of History (1988): 184–204. in JSTOR
- Landrum, Ney C. The State Park Movement in America: A Critical Review (2013) excerpt and text search
- Larson, Zeb. "Silver Falls State Park and the Early Environmental Movement." Oregon Historical Quarterly (2011) 112#1 pp: 34-57 in JSTOR
- Newton, Norman T. "The State Park Movement: 1864-1933;" and "State Parks and the Civilian Conservation Corps, Parkways and Their Offspring." in Design on the Land: the Development of Landscape Architecture (Harvard UP 1971)
- Parker, Eugene Phillip. "When Forests Trumped Parks: The Maryland Experience, 1906-1950." Maryland Historical Magazine (2006) 101#2 pp: 203–224.
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