Proposed National Parks

• AdirondackNew YorkNo active campaignLaurance Rockefeller proposed a 1.72-million-acre park in 1967. Public opposition was fierce.
• AlleghenyPennsylvania and New YorkCampaign underwayA campaign in the 2010s proposed uniting nearly a million acres into one park.
• Ancient ForestCalifornia and OregonCampaign underwayA citizen campaign wants to join the Klamath-Siskiyou wilderness and roadless areas into one park.
• Apostle IslandsWisconsinBill in CongressA national lakeshore since 1970. A bill to make it Wisconsin's first National Park cleared a House committee in February 2026. Some local governments and the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have opposed the idea.
• AssateagueMaryland and VirginiaNo active campaignFirst proposed in 1940. Congress created Assateague Island National Seashore in 1965.
• Atchafalaya BasinLouisianaNo active campaignThe Sierra Club's Acadian Group suggested a state-owned park in 2014. It never reached legislation.
• BandelierNew MexicoNo active campaignA national monument since 1916, after park bills for the cliff cities failed. Sen. Martin Heinrich revived the idea in 2019, and it went quiet.
• Bering Land BridgeAlaskaNo active campaignJimmy Carter proclaimed it a national monument in 1978, and Congress made it a national preserve in 1980. The National Park Service manages it.
• Big SurCaliforniaNo active campaignAnsel Adams led a park campaign in 1977. Federal bills in the early 1980s failed.
• Black HillsSouth DakotaNo active campaignBills in 1985 and 1987 would have returned about 1.6 million acres to the Lakota. Both died in committee.
• Blue RidgeVirginia and North CarolinaNo active campaignA Southern Appalachian park was first sought in 1899. A Mount Mitchell park bill ended in 1979.
• Buffalo RiverArkansasNo active campaignAmerica's first national river, in 1972. A 2022 push to make it a National Park and preserve met fierce local opposition and was withdrawn in 2023.
• Cahokia MoundsIllinois and MissouriBill in CongressThe largest pre-Columbian city north of Mexico. Bills to make it a national historical park have been filed since 2019, most recently in 2025.
• Canyon de ChellyArizonaNo active campaignA national monument since 1931. A larger Navajo National Park proposed that year was rejected.
• Carrizo PlainCaliforniaNo active campaignBought up starting in 1988 and proclaimed a national monument in 2001.
• Cedar BreaksUtahNo active campaignA national monument since 1933. A transfer push began in 1919, and Iron County floated a park in 2006. Dormant since.
• Craters of the MoonIdahoNo active campaignCongress chose a national preserve in 2002. A 2017 Idaho memorial for a park never got a House vote.
• Cumberland PlateauKentucky and TennesseeNo active campaignCongress created the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in 1974 instead of a park.
• Delaware Water GapNew Jersey and PennsylvaniaCampaign underwayA national recreation area since 1965. Warren County, New Jersey, endorsed making it a National Park and preserve in 2022, but opposition grew, and in July 2026 two New Jersey congressmen introduced a House resolution against the change.
• DinosaurUtah and ColoradoNo active campaignPark upgrades were floated in 1989, 1999, and 2015. Each stalled over grazing and oil and gas.
• Driftless RiversIowa, Wisconsin, and MinnesotaNo active campaignA foundation formed in 2013 proposes a 375,000-acre park. No bill has followed.
• El YunquePuerto RicoNo active campaignTheodore Roosevelt made it a forest reserve in 1903, and it later became the Caribbean National Forest. It was renamed El Yunque National Forest in 2007.
• Endless MountainsPennsylvaniaNo active campaignRicketts Glen was approved as a National Park site in the 1930s. World War II ended the plan.
• Escalante CanyonsUtahNo active campaignThe Park Service studied a park here in the late 1930s. Bills followed the 2017 monument reduction, and the 2021 restoration mooted them.
• Finger LakesNew YorkNo active campaignThe current effort is for a National Heritage Area, with a designation bill in 2024.
• Flint HillsKansasNo active campaignSix decades of prairie park proposals, including a 57,000-acre park recommended in 1961. The compromise was Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
• Florida SpringsFloridaBill in CongressA 2025 bill would have Interior study a Florida Springs National Park covering up to 2,800 square miles.
• Ghost RanchNew MexicoNo active campaignA National Natural Landmark since 1975, still privately owned. A conservation easement plan was announced in 2025.
• GilaNew MexicoCampaign underwayHome of the world's first designated wilderness, in 1924. The Sierra Club has advocated a park, but no bill has been introduced.
• Glen CanyonUtah and ArizonaCampaign underwayLake Powell flooded the canyon in the 1960s. The Glen Canyon Institute has worked to restore it since 1996.
• Golden GateCaliforniaNo active campaignA 2008 bill to rename the recreation area Golden Gate National Parks died in a House subcommittee.
• Great RiversIllinois and MissouriCampaign underwayA developer proposed a 135,000-acre park at the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois rivers in 2023. Rural counties objected.
• Great Salt LakeUtahCampaign underwayA 1960s monument bill failed. A BYU team pitched a National Park from 2022 to 2024. There is no bill yet.
• Guana RiverFloridaNo active campaignA 1973 bill for a Guana River National Park died in committee. The land is now a national estuarine research reserve.
• Hells CanyonOregon and IdahoNo active campaignConsidered for a park in 1940. Congress created a national recreation area in 1975.
• Imperial Valley (Salton Sea / Anza-Borrego)CaliforniaNo active campaignA desert park was proposed in 1928. Anza-Borrego became a state park, and Chuckwalla a national monument in 2025.
• Interior Highlands (Ouachita Mountains)Arkansas and OklahomaNo active campaignCongress passed a Ouachita National Park bill in 1929. President Coolidge killed it with a pocket veto.
• Lake TahoeCalifornia and NevadaNo active campaignJohn Muir campaigned for a park in 1897. An 1899 bill collapsed by 1900.
• Loess HillsIowaNo active campaignAmong the deepest wind-deposited loess formations on Earth. A 1999 study recommended national reserve status instead of a park.
• Misty FjordsAlaskaNo active campaignJimmy Carter proclaimed it a national monument in 1978, and Congress made it a wilderness in 1980. The Forest Service manages it as part of the Tongass National Forest.
• Mobile-Tensaw DeltaAlabamaCampaign underwayE.O. Wilson called it America's Amazon and pushed for a park. No bill has been introduced, and protection has come through land purchases.
• Moenkopi (Coal Mine Canyon, Blue Canyon)Navajo Nation and Hopi ReservationNo active campaignThe land belongs to the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe. It has never been federal land.
• MojaveCaliforniaNo active campaignCongress created a national preserve in 1994 so hunting and grazing could continue.
• Mono-Inyo (Mono Lake, Bodie)CaliforniaNo active campaignProtected as a state reserve in 1981 and the nation's first national forest scenic area in 1984.
• Monument ValleyArizona and UtahNo active campaignA 1931 Navajo National Park idea was rejected. It became the first Navajo Tribal Park in 1958.
• Mount Hood and the Columbia River GorgeOregon and WashingtonCampaign underwayPark bills failed from the 1890s to the 1930s. The Mount Hood National Park Campaign has run since 2004.
• Mount St. HelensWashingtonNo active campaignA 2007 push to move it to the Park Service was dropped after a 2010 task force report.
• NiobraraNebraskaNo active campaignThe 1991 scenic river law directed a study of a 138,000-acre prairie park. The study was favorable, and nothing followed.
• North Woods (Maine Woods)MaineCampaign underwayRESTORE: The North Woods proposed a 3.2-million-acre park in 1994. The campaign continues.
• Ocmulgee MoundsGeorgiaBill in CongressA national monument since the 1930s and a national historical park since 2019. Bills in Congress would make it Georgia's first National Park.
• OkefenokeeGeorgia and FloridaNo active campaignA 1929 study bill led to a wildlife refuge in 1937 and wilderness in 1974, not a park. The recent fight has been over a titanium mine.
• Organ PipeArizonaNo active campaignA 1965 Sonoran Desert National Park proposal was rejected. A revival around 1999 went nowhere.
• Owyhee CanyonlandsOregon, Idaho, and NevadaNo active campaignA bill to protect 1.1 million acres passed the Senate in 2024, died in the House, and has been reintroduced.
• Painted HillsOregonNo active campaignPart of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument since 1975. The National Parks Conservation Association started a collaborative in 2025.
• Palo Duro CanyonTexasNo active campaignPark bills failed in 1908, 1911, and 1915. It opened as a state park in 1934.
• Pictured RocksMichiganNo active campaignCongress made it the first national lakeshore in 1966 instead of a park.
• Piney WoodsTexasNo active campaignDecades of park bills ended in 1974 with Big Thicket, the first national preserve.
• Potomac HighlandsWest VirginiaNo active campaignFriends of Blackwater campaigned for a park from 2004 to 2011. A study request was dropped in 2012.
• Red Rock CanyonNevadaNo active campaignNevada's first national conservation area, in 1990. The Park Service declined the idea in the 1960s, and no park bill has followed.
• Rim of the ValleyCaliforniaBill in CongressA 191,000-acre expansion of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The House has passed it, and the Senate has not.
• Rim Rock CanyonsColoradoNo active campaignA 2014 draft bill to make Colorado National Monument a park was abandoned.
• RotaNorthern Mariana IslandsNo active campaignCongress ordered a study, and the Park Service found the island nationally significant in 2023, but recommended against Park Service management.
• San RafaelUtahNo active campaignProposed as a park in the 1930s. Congress created a recreation area and wilderness in 2019.
• SandhillsNebraskaNo active campaignA 1965 plan sketched a Sandhills National Parkway. It was never built.
• SawtoothIdahoNo active campaignPark bills from 1916 to 1966 led to a national recreation area in 1972.
• ScablandsWashingtonNo active campaignJudged not feasible for a park in 2001. A national geologic trail followed in 2009.
• SedonaArizonaCampaign underwayA citizen proposal calls for a national monument on national forest land. It has no bill.
• Shasta CascadeCaliforniaNo active campaignJohn Muir called for a Mount Shasta park in 1888. Bills in 1912, 1913, and 1925 all died.
• ShawneeIllinoisCampaign underwayNational forest land since the 1930s. The Shawnee Park & Climate Alliance wants it redesignated as a National Park and climate preserve. Carbondale endorsed the idea, while others, including the local Sierra Club chapter, prefer the Forest Service.
• Silver FallsOregonNo active campaignThe Park Service turned it down in 1926. It became a state park in 1933.
• Sky Islands (Chiricahua National Monument)ArizonaBill in CongressPassed the House in March 2026 and a Senate committee in July. It awaits a vote in the full Senate.
• Sleeping Bear DunesMichiganNo active campaignA national lakeshore since 1970. The designation activity here has been wilderness, in 2014, rather than a park.
• Superstition MountainsArizonaNo active campaignSet aside as a primitive area in 1939 and protected as wilderness in 1964.
• Valley of FireNevadaNo active campaignNever formally proposed as a park. It opened as Nevada's first state park in 1934.
• Waimea CanyonHawaiiNo active campaignWaimea Canyon and neighboring Kōkeʻe were the first parks in Hawaii's state park system. In the 1960s, the Park Service studied a National Park for western Kauai, but local opposition stopped it.
• White MountainsNew HampshireCampaign underwayA national forest since 1918. RESTORE proposed an 810,000-acre park and preserve in 2022.
• Wichita MountainsOklahomaNo active campaignA 1929 park bill failed. It became a national wildlife refuge in 1936.
• Wildcat HillsNebraskaNo active campaignScotts Bluff became a national monument in 1919, and Chimney Rock a national historic site in 1956.
• Wind River RangeWyomingNo active campaignProtected in pieces, from a 1931 primitive area to wilderness added through 1984.

Places that cross state lines appear under each of their states.