What is a “unit” of the national park system?
The national park system consists of more than 385 units. They go by many names – national park, monument, historic site, historical park, seashore, recreation area, and many others, but all are referred to as parks. In total there are more than 20 different park “titles” within the Park System. For example, a national park is a large natural place having a wide variety of attributes, including significant historic assets, a national historic site usually contains a single historical feature that was directly associated with its subject, and a national historical park is a group of historic sites or properties or buildings. A relatively new designation, although not a unit, is a national heritage area, “a place … where natural, cultural, historic, and scenic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally distinctive landscape arising from patterns of human activity shaped by geography.” Designations are tailored to the place that’s being protected and interpreted. The special resou
