Society

States that are conserving the most land

Written by:
Annalise Mantz
September 10, 2018
OLya_L // Shutterstock

States that are conserving the most land

Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls—every state in the nation boasts another natural marvel; land carefully protected from development to preserve its beauty and ecosystem. The United States boasts a whopping 59 national parks and 8,565 state parks, plus countless other national forests and protected areas. Thanks to the government's dedication to preservation, Americans can still discover natural wonders from sea to shining sea.

With that in mind, the amount of land preserved does vary widely from state to state. Using data from the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Inventory of Protected Areas, Stacker ranked all 50 states—plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico—by the percent of total protected state acres. The amount of each state's land classified as protected with the designation GAP 1, GAP 2, or GAP 3 was calculated using digital mapping software.

Read on to see where your home state falls on the list, and learn each state's most notable large park. Environmentalists might even consider it a road trip bucket list.

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#52. Kansas

Percent of total state area protected: < 1% (498,206.1 out of 52.7 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Fall River State Park

#51. District of Columbia

Percent of total state area protected: < 1% (118.1 out of 43,734 acres)

Notable large park in this state: Lincoln Park

#50. Iowa

Percent of total state area protected: 1.69% (607,083.6 out of 36 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

#49. Nebraska

Percent of total state area protected: 2.20% (1.1 million out of 49.5 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Fort Robinson State Park

#48. Illinois

Percent of total state area protected: 3.19% (1.2 million out of 37.1 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park

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#47. Texas

Percent of total state area protected: 3.25% (5.6 million out of 171.9 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Big Bend National Park

#46. Indiana

Percent of total state area protected: 3.26% (759,520.2 out of 23.3 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Brown County State Park

#45. Oklahoma

Percent of total state area protected: 3.52% (1.6 million out of 44.7 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Lake Murray State Park

#44. Ohio

Percent of total state area protected: 3.70% (1.1 million out of 28.7 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Cuyahoga Valley National Park

#43. Alabama

Percent of total state area protected: 4.38% (1.5 million out of 33.5 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Oak Mountain State Park

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#42. Puerto Rico

Percent of total state area protected: 4.73% (161,310.4 out of 3.4 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: El Yunque National Forest

#41. Kentucky

Percent of total state area protected: 5.16% (1.3 million out of 25.9 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Mammoth Cave National Park

#40. Georgia

Percent of total state area protected: 6.39% (2.4 million out of 38 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: F. D. Roosevelt State Park

#39. North Dakota

Percent of total state area protected: 6.47% (2.9 million out of 45.2 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

#38. Missouri

Percent of total state area protected: 6.48% (2.9 million out of 44.6 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Gateway Arch National Park

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#37. Mississippi

Percent of total state area protected: 6.96% (2.2 million out of 31 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Clarkco State Park

#36. Tennessee

Percent of total state area protected: 7.32% (2 million out of 27 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

#35. South Carolina

Percent of total state area protected: 7.66% (1.6 million out of 20.5 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Congaree National Park

#34. Connecticut

Percent of total state area protected: 7.68% (272,368.8 out of 3.5 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Mohawk Forest/Mohawk Mountain State Park

#33. South Dakota

Percent of total state area protected: 8.43% (4.2 million out of 49.4 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Badlands National Park

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#32. Maryland

Percent of total state area protected: 8.73% (693,081.3 out of 7.9 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Gunpowder Falls State Park

#31. Louisiana

Percent of total state area protected: 9.03% (3 million out of 33.5 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Chicot State Park

#30. Rhode Island

Percent of total state area protected: 9.22% (91,165.5 out of 988,728 acres)

Notable large park in this state: Burlingame State Park

#29. North Carolina

Percent of total state area protected: 9.32% (3.2 million out of 34.4 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: South Mountains State Park

#28. Virginia

Percent of total state area protected: 10.08% (2.8 million out of 27.4 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Shenandoah National Park

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#27. Delaware

Percent of total state area protected: 10.36% (165,045.1 out of 1.6 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Cape Henlopen State Park

#26. West Virginia

Percent of total state area protected: 10.96% (1.7 million out of 15.5 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Watoga State Park

#25. Maine

Percent of total state area protected: 11.15% (2.5 million out of 22.6 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Acadia National Park

#24. Arkansas

Percent of total state area protected: 11.49% (3.9 million out of 34 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Hot Springs

#23. New York

Percent of total state area protected: 13.37% (4.7 million out of 34.9 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Allegany State Park

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#22. Wisconsin

Percent of total state area protected: 13.79% (5.8 million out of 41.9 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Devil's Lake State Park

#21. Michigan

Percent of total state area protected: 14.04% (8.7 million out of 61.9 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Isle Royale National Park

#20. Vermont

Percent of total state area protected: 14.64% (901,321.6 out of 6.2 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Camel's Hump State Park

#19. Massachusetts

Percent of total state area protected: 15.14% (1 million out of 6.8 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: October Mountain State Forest

#18. Pennsylvania

Percent of total state area protected: 15.68% (4.6 million out of 29.5 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Pymatuning State Park

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#17. New Jersey

Percent of total state area protected: 21.62% (1.2 million out of 5.6 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Elephant Butte Lake State Park

#16. Minnesota

Percent of total state area protected: 22.6% (12.6 million out of 55.6 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Voyageurs National Park

#15. New Hampshire

Percent of total state area protected: 24.58% (1.5 million out of 6 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Pisgah State Park

#14. Florida

Percent of total state area protected: 25.11% (10.6 million out of 42.1 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Biscayne National Park

#13. Hawaii

Percent of total state area protected: 31.32% (2.2 million out of 7 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

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#12. New Mexico

Percent of total state area protected: 31.56% (24.6 million out of 77.8 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Carlsbad Caverns National Park

#11. Montana

Percent of total state area protected: 36.51% (34.4 million out of 94.1 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Glacier National Park

#10. Washington

Percent of total state area protected: 37.5% (17.1 million out of 45.6 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Olympic National Park

#9. Arizona

Percent of total state area protected: 38.42% (28 million out of 73 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Grand Canyon

#8. Colorado

Percent of total state area protected: 41.42% (27.6 million out of 66.6 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Mesa Verde National Park

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#7. California

Percent of total state area protected: 50.74% (53.2 million out of 104.8 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Joshua Tree National Park

#6. Wyoming

Percent of total state area protected: 54.83% (34.3 million out of 62.6 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Grand Teton National Park

#5. Alaska

Percent of total state area protected: 55.4% (235.9 million out of 425.8 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Wrangell–St. Elias

#4. Oregon

Percent of total state area protected: 56.02% (35.3 million out of 63 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Crater Lake National Park

#3. Idaho

Percent of total state area protected: 67.34% (36 million out of 53.5 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: City of Rocks National Reserve

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#2. Utah

Percent of total state area protected: 68.5% (37.2 million out of 54.3 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Canyonlands National Park

#1. Nevada

Percent of total state area protected: 80.44% (56.9 million out of 70.8 million acres)

Notable large park in this state: Great Basin National Park

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