Pop Quiz: First Ever National Park Founding Date
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 07.11.08

Answer: B) 1872
Yellowstone, created by an act of congress in 1872, was the world's first national park. It was created as a “pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people in order to protect for all time this outstanding natural area.” As more parks were created, it became clear that there would need to be an agency that could run and maintain the parks. The Park Service was created in 1916 to do just that
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You know, I picked B) but a gut feeling tells me its *technically* (god i am such an eco-nerd) Arkansas Hot Springs. Open to the public since 1832 for enjoyment and entertainment.
...someone has to call me on this one.
In France, the Forest of Fontainebleau was such a point of national pride that a portion of it was set aside in 1861 as the first nature preserve in history.
This is directly quoted from National Gallery of Art's 2008 Exhibition: In the Forest of Fountainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Carot to Monet.
I think a nature preserve is also what you might call Yellowstone.
So maybe USA didn't have the first national park.