What About Affiliated Sites, Heritage Areas and Trails?

Since the National Park Service does not run these sites, they don’t count as official park visits. However, many affiliated sites help tell more of our country’s history, NHAs include uniquely American experiences, and cross country drives follow many scenic and historic trails. Many are near or overlap with official sites, and they’re worth exploring.

Affiliated sites are neither owned nor run by the NPS, but they are run by trusted partners with limited NPS technical, administrative or financial support. Some affiliates operate seamlessly as part of larger NPS sites, so I include them there. If a historic building is still active as a place of worship, for example, then the government can’t own or operate it. And there are other situations where expert, independent, local and long-term management makes the most sense and also give some sites unique advantages compared to official parks.

Large and small National Heritage Areas are “nationally important landscapes” with “historic, cultural and natural resources”. Typically, they are tourist-oriented and receive a portion of their funding from the NPS, while they are managed locally without NPS ownership. In my experience, each has their own distinct story to tell, regional style or unique beauty. They should be part of your itinerary in any region.

National Geologic & Scenic Trails

National Historic Trails