National Recreation Areas
Across the U.S.
A Free Guide to Discovering the Wonders of U.S. National Recreation Areas:
Let us be your guide to discovering these natural wonders. What you'll find here is an alphabetical listing of all our natural national recreation areas, with links to the official site of each national recreation area.
National Recreation Areas are managed by different federal agencies, including the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service.
Alphabetical List of U.S. National Recreation Areas in U.S. States:
Allegheny National Recreation Area. Location: northwest Pennsylvania, and administered by the Forest Service as part of the Allegheny National Forest. [Official Site] Amistad National Recreation Area. Location: southwest Texas, an area around the U.S. portion of International Amistad Reservoir, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Angel Peak National Recreation Area. Location: northwest New Mexico, administered by the Bureau of Land Management. [Official Site] Arapaho National Recreation Area. Location: north central Colorado, home to five lakes/reservoirs (and which the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail passes through), and administered by the Forest Service as part of the Arapaho National Forest. [Official Site]
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Location: straddles borders of south central Montana and north central Wyoming, home to Bighorn Lake (formed by the construction of the Yellowtail Dam), and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Location: northeast Tennessee and southeast Kentucky, Cumberland River and its tributaries, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Location: eastern Massachusetts, containing 34 islands and peninsulas, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site]
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Location: north central Georgia, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Location: south central Oklahoma, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Curecanti National Recreation Area. Location: southwest Colorado, the heart of which are three reservoirs (Blue Mesa Reservoir -- Colorado's largest body of water, Crystal Reservoir, Morrow Point Reservoir), and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site]
Datil Well Recreation Area. Location: west central New Mexico, near the Cibola National Forest, and administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Location: along the border of western New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site]
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Location: northeast corner of Utah and the southwest corner of Wyoming, and administered by the Forest Service as part of the Ashley National Forest. [Official Site]
Gateway National Recreation Area. Location: Metropolitan New York area, including parts of New York (including Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island) and New Jersey (Monmouth County), part of the National Parks of New York Harbor, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Gauley River National Recreation Area. Location: southern West Virginia, including the Summersville Lake (reservoir), part of the New River Gorge National River, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Location: straddles north central Arizona, south central Utah, including Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyon and encompassing more than 1.2 million acres, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Location: central west California, a collection of areas surrounding the San Francisco Bay area, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Grand Island National Recreation Area. Location: Upper Peninsula, Michigan, and administered by the Forest Service as part of the Hiawatha National Forest (also known as "the Great Lakes National Forest"). [Official Site]
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Location: northeast Oregon and western Idaho, home to the deepest river gorge in North American, and administered by the Forest Service as part of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. [Official Site]
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Location: north central Washington, administered by the National Park Service, along with the North Cascades National Park and nearby Ross Lake National Recreation Area. [Official Site] Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Location: southern Nevada and northwest Arizona, containing two large reservoirs (Lake Mead and Lake Mohave) and the Hoover Dam, partially overlapping Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. Location: north Texas, created by the Sanford Dam, supplies water for 11 cities in the Texas panhandle, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. eastern Washington, includes 130-mile-long Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake (Columbia River) created by the Grand Coulee Dam, offering abundant recreational activities, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. Location: inland peninsula straddling southwest Kentucky and northwest Tennessee between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake, administered by the Forest Service. [Official Site]
Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Location: central east Minnesota, protecting 72-mile corridor along Mississippi River, including part that flows through Minneapolis and St. Paul, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Moosalamoo National Recreation Area. Location: central Vermont, along with the Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area, administered by the Forest Service as part of the Green Mountain National Forest. [Official Site] Mount Baker National Recreation Area. Location: northwest Washington, adjacent to the Mount Baker Wilderness, and administered by the Forest Service as part of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. [Official Site] Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. Location: southwest Virginia, including Mount Rogers -- the highest point in Virginia -- and administered by the Forest Service as part of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. [Official Site]
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Location southwest Oregon (coast), adjoining Honeyman State Park, and administered by the Forest Service as part of the Siuslaw National Forest. [Official Site] Orilla Verde Recreation Area. Location: north central New Mexico, along banks of the Rio Grande, within the Rio Grande Gorge, and administered by the Bureau of Land Management. [Official Site]
Pine Ridge National Recreation Area. Location: northwest Nebraska, and administered by the Forest Service as part of the Nebraska National Forest. [Official Site]
Rattlesnake National Recreation Area. Location: west central Montana, adjacent to the Rattlesnake Wilderness, and administered by the Forest Service as part of the Lolo National Forest. [Official Site] Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area. Location: southern Vermont, includes the Big Branch and Peru Peak Wilderness areas, part of the Appalachian Trail, and administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Green Mountain National Forest. [Official Site] Ross Lake National Recreation Area. Location: north central Washington, administered by the National Park Service, along with the North Cascades National Park and nearby Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. [Official Site]
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Location: southwest California, and administered by the National Park Service. [Official Site] Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Location: central Idaho, nearby the Sawtooth Wilderness, and administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Boise, Challis, and Sawtooth National Forests. [Official Site] Smith River National Recreation Area. Location: northwest California, just east of Redwood National Park, and administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Six Rivers National Forest. [Official Site] Spring Mountains National Recreation Area. Location: Southern Nevada, just west of Las Vegas, adjacent to the Mount Charleston Wilderness, and administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. [Official Site] Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area. Location: eastern West Virginia, containing Spruce Knob-- the highest point in the state -- and administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Monongahela National Forest. [Official Site]
Valley of Fires National Recreation Area. Location: south central New Mexico, adjacent to the Malpais Lava Flow, and administered by the Bureau of Land Management. [Official Site]
Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area. Location: northern California, and divided into three units -- Whiskeytown, Shasta and Trinity. The Whiskeytown NRA is administered by the National Park Service, the Shasta-Trinity NRA is administered by the Forest Service as part of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. [Whiskeytown Official Site, Shasta-Trinity Official Site] White Mountains National Recreation Area. Location: western Alaska, offering one million acres of recreational activities, and administered by the Bureau of Land Management. [Official Site] Wild Rivers National Recreation Area. Location: northeast New Mexico, including parts of the Rio Grande and Red River, and administered by the Bureau of Land Management. [Official Site] Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area. Location: eastern Oklahoma, with Upper Kiamichi River and Black Fork Mountain Wilderness areas nearby, and administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Ouachita National Forest. [Official Site]