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Though assigned to the NPS, technically, this is not a unit of the National Park System and is not counted as one of the 401 units of the National Park System. The complete list of parks is at
http://www.nps.gov/news/researchlinks.htm
If you are going to call the David Berger National Memorial a unit of the National Park System, you should do it with a wink in your eye and your tongue planted firmly in your cheek.
Intersting bit of informaton on this park.Thanks for the post Bob.This is the fun part about this web site the little things a person can learn about our park system good or bad.
More park-barrel parks. Congress should just create a new type of site. They could redesignate this as a national sculpture site. Then there'd be precedent to create more sculpture sites!
By the way, I believe the NPS still shows Thaddeus Kosciuszko NMem as the smallest unit of the NPS.
Chris your probably right but it still is nice to read about these tid-bits of info.
Some of the big named 57 or 58 parks should not be a national park either other than some big wig was throwing his weight around.I'm not saying they were not nice but they should really blow you away to become a National Park.Been to some state parks that can compare.
What's the smallest unit designated as a "National Park?" Hot Springs? Acadia?
At just 5,550 acres, Hot Springs National Park is indeed the smallest of the National Park System's 59 National Park-designated units. Acadia National Park may be smallish as National Park-designated units go, but it still logs in at a respectable 47,000+ acres. That's considerably bigger than Bryce Canyon National Park (~36,000 acres).
The Ice Age National Scenic Trail has an NPS stamp, has an NPS website, is on the web list of NPS areas in Wisconsin, has an NPS brochure, has an NPS superintendent, NPS owns 150+ acres for the "park" and NPS has a General Management Plan for its land but still the Ice Age National Scenic Trail is not an NPS unit. Go figure.
Thanks, everyone for the visit and comments.
drew, they were both part of the same parks bill, too. Coincidence?
Chris, Thaddeus Kosziusko is indeed the smallest one on the "official" NPS list - which has two Denalis, among many other bits of inexplicable inconsistencies.
Bob, thanks for answering the other "smallest" question. As for your first comment, I'll say, "no comment." I know you know how inconsistent the NPS is here - and not always following congressional intent, I might add.
With many of you, I'm not always in agreement with congressional intent. But they do get to make the law.
Someone exolains to me how a steel structure is considered "nature"? I thought the whole concept of national parks was in order to protect nature. It seems that some authorities have a strange view indeed of what is natural ....
It's under the National Park service, but that is NOT a National Park!! I think there are 59 National Parks. I think Hot Springs in Arkansas is the smallest.
Kosciusco is only about 200 square feet in area. It's very non-obvious to me that this is smaller (I haven't actually visited DBNM, though)
The smallest "national park" is Gateway Arch National Park in St Louis at 91 acres. There are 61 units classified as national parks and Gateway Arch is the latest. There are 419 national park units. https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/national-park-system.htm
The David Berger site is considered a national memorial but is not listed as one of the 419 official units. https://www.nps.gov/places/david-berger-national-memorial.htm
The Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, as Electroman stated above, is considered the smallest unit of the national park system. The National Memorial was authorized on October 21, 1972. It is administered under Independence National Historical Park but is counted as a separate unit of the National Park System. At 0.02 acres (0.0081 ha) 0.02 acre (80 m²), the memorial is America's smallest unit of the National Park System. (Wikipedia).
Bob Pahre, thank you for writing this interesting article and bringing up the question. As others have stated, there are inconsistencies in naming units.