Why not use the first monument date?

The primary date is Wikipedia’s Date established as park — the National Park designation. NPS Park Anniversaries often lists an earlier first-unit date; those are footnotes, not the mapped coordinate.

Which parks share December 2?

Gates of the Arctic, Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, and Wrangell–St. Elias share December 2, 1980 (ANILCA). Denali does not: its National Park date is February 26, 1917.

Is this a reading of the park?

No. The card is a calendar coordinate for the documented National Park date. The $9 Deep Dive is a written report for a birthday you enter.

National Park coordinates

US National Park Birth Cards

Each park uses one documented date: Wikipedia’s Date established as park column — the day the unit became a National Park. First monument, reservation, lakeshore, river, or memorial dates are footnotes only. The birth card is the month and day of that National Park date. The year is unused.

Shared-date clusters

December 2, 1980 — Alaska ANILCA

Seven current Alaska National Parks share the same National Park date under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act: Gates of the Arctic, Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, Wrangell–St. Elias. Earlier monument dates on NPS Park Anniversaries are not mapped.

December 2 — Gates of the Arctic (December 2, 1980), Glacier Bay (December 2, 1980), Katmai (December 2, 1980), Kenai Fjords (December 2, 1980), Kobuk Valley (December 2, 1980), Lake Clark (December 2, 1980), Wrangell–St. Elias (December 2, 1980)

Also sharing a month and day

February 26 — Denali (February 26, 1917), Acadia (February 26, 1919), Grand Canyon (February 26, 1919), Grand Teton (February 26, 1929)
October 31 — American Samoa (October 31, 1988), Death Valley (October 31, 1994), Joshua Tree (October 31, 1994)
October 2 — North Cascades (October 2, 1968), Redwood (October 2, 1968)
November 10 — Badlands (November 10, 1978), Theodore Roosevelt (November 10, 1978), Congaree (November 10, 2003)
March 4 — Hot Springs (March 4, 1921), Kings Canyon (March 4, 1940)
July 1 — Mammoth Cave (July 1, 1941), Haleakalā (July 1, 1961)

Not the first monument

Many current parks were monuments, reserves, lakeshores, rivers, or memorials first. This hub does not use those earlier first-unit dates. NPS Park Anniversaries is cited on each page when it lists a different first-unit day or year.

All 63 National Parks

Order	Park	Location	National Park date	Birth card
1	Yellowstone	Wyoming, Montana, Idaho	March 1, 1872	9 of Spades
2	Sequoia	California	September 25, 1890	Queen of Hearts
3	Yosemite	California	October 1, 1890	8 of Diamonds
4	Mount Rainier	Washington	March 2, 1899	8 of Spades
5	Crater Lake	Oregon	May 22, 1902	10 of Clubs
6	Wind Cave	South Dakota	January 9, 1903	5 of Spades
7	Mesa Verde	Colorado	June 29, 1906	Ace of Clubs
8	Glacier	Montana	May 11, 1910	8 of Diamonds
9	Rocky Mountain	Colorado	January 26, 1915	Ace of Diamonds
10	Hawaiʻi Volcanoes	Hawaii	August 1, 1916	Queen of Diamonds
11	Lassen Volcanic	California	August 9, 1916	4 of Diamonds
12	Denali	Alaska	February 26, 1917	Queen of Clubs
13	Acadia	Maine	February 26, 1919	Queen of Clubs
14	Grand Canyon	Arizona	February 26, 1919	Queen of Clubs
15	Zion	Utah	November 19, 1919	Ace of Clubs
16	Hot Springs	Arkansas	March 4, 1921	6 of Spades
17	Bryce Canyon	Utah	February 25, 1928	King of Clubs
18	Grand Teton	Wyoming	February 26, 1929	Queen of Clubs
19	Carlsbad Caverns	New Mexico	May 14, 1930	5 of Diamonds
20	Everglades	Florida	May 30, 1934	2 of Clubs
21	Great Smoky Mountains	North Carolina, Tennessee	June 15, 1934	2 of Diamonds
22	Shenandoah	Virginia	December 26, 1935	5 of Hearts
23	Olympic	Washington	June 29, 1938	Ace of Clubs
24	Kings Canyon	California	March 4, 1940	6 of Spades
25	Isle Royale	Michigan	April 3, 1940	5 of Spades
26	Mammoth Cave	Kentucky	July 1, 1941	Ace of Spades
27	Big Bend	Texas	June 12, 1944	5 of Diamonds
28	Virgin Islands	U.S. Virgin Islands	August 2, 1956	Jack of Diamonds
29	Haleakalā	Hawaii	July 1, 1961	Ace of Spades
30	Petrified Forest	Arizona	December 9, 1962	9 of Clubs
31	Canyonlands	Utah	September 12, 1964	Queen of Clubs
32	North Cascades	Washington	October 2, 1968	7 of Diamonds
33	Redwood	California	October 2, 1968	7 of Diamonds
34	Arches	Utah	November 12, 1971	8 of Clubs
35	Capitol Reef	Utah	December 18, 1971	King of Hearts
36	Guadalupe Mountains	Texas	September 30, 1972	7 of Hearts
37	Voyageurs	Minnesota	April 8, 1975	King of Diamonds
38	Badlands	South Dakota	November 10, 1978	10 of Clubs
39	Theodore Roosevelt	North Dakota	November 10, 1978	10 of Clubs
40	Channel Islands	California	March 5, 1980	5 of Spades
41	Biscayne	Florida	June 28, 1980	2 of Clubs
42	Gates of the Arctic	Alaska	December 2, 1980	3 of Diamonds
43	Glacier Bay	Alaska	December 2, 1980	3 of Diamonds
44	Katmai	Alaska	December 2, 1980	3 of Diamonds
45	Kenai Fjords	Alaska	December 2, 1980	3 of Diamonds
46	Kobuk Valley	Alaska	December 2, 1980	3 of Diamonds
47	Lake Clark	Alaska	December 2, 1980	3 of Diamonds
48	Wrangell–St. Elias	Alaska	December 2, 1980	3 of Diamonds
49	Great Basin	Nevada	October 27, 1986	8 of Hearts
50	American Samoa	American Samoa	October 31, 1988	4 of Hearts
51	Dry Tortugas	Florida	October 26, 1992	9 of Hearts
52	Saguaro	Arizona	October 14, 1994	8 of Clubs
53	Death Valley	California, Nevada	October 31, 1994	4 of Hearts
54	Joshua Tree	California	October 31, 1994	4 of Hearts
55	Black Canyon of the Gunnison	Colorado	October 21, 1999	Ace of Clubs
56	Cuyahoga Valley	Ohio	October 11, 2000	Jack of Clubs
57	Congaree	South Carolina	November 10, 2003	10 of Clubs
58	Great Sand Dunes	Colorado	September 24, 2004	King of Hearts
59	Pinnacles	California	January 10, 2013	4 of Spades
60	Gateway Arch	Missouri	February 22, 2018	3 of Diamonds
61	Indiana Dunes	Indiana	February 15, 2019	10 of Diamonds
62	White Sands	New Mexico	December 20, 2019	Jack of Hearts
63	New River Gorge	West Virginia	December 27, 2020	4 of Hearts

Read your own date

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Sources: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0 (List of national parks of the United States, column “Date established as park”, retrieved 2026-09-06) + NPS Park Anniversaries footnotes (nps.gov, retrieved 2026-09-06). Dates are not invented.