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Because the park, which was preserved partially out of concerns that deforestation could result in silt clogging up the Erie canal, predates the national park system and the general appreciation of preservation and environmentalism. The other thing is that the Adirondack Park (and the Catskill Park) are not like national parks (or real NY state parks), which often have entrance fees/gates and restricted hours, little to no private residences, and various other restrictions that limit use to low impact recreational purposes. The Adirondacks is largely privately owned and is not nearly as wild or pristine as many of the prominent National Parks, and is more of an environmentally protected zone than a park.
It is quite interesting as we went to the Acadia N'al park in Maine which was awesome. But most of the park but the coastline felt like the Adirondacks.
Anyways, I believe the Adirondack region is right up there with the other parks as it offers just as much or maybe more for recreational activities, sightseeing etc. in all seasons.....
Why is the country's largest park - Adirondacks located in one of the most beautiful regions not considered a National park?
Good question. And there are a number of other State parks in New York that would also be suitable for National Park or Monument status, including Niagara Falls and Letchworth Gorge. But I believe the state does not want to give up control to the Federal government nor do we trust the Federal government.
Instead of United States National Park status, New York has opted for something similar to the British National Park system. National parks of England and Wales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Similar to the British, the New York State government controls a large part of the land in the Adirondacks and Catskills but the rest is private with various level of controls. I think it works rather well.
Since half of the land is not public most people consider Death Valley National Park the biggest park. Yellowstone isn't much smaller and its actually wild with no water safari's.
Not to say the ADK's don't have a certain charm but they aren't really very "park" like.
Plus the scale isn't even close to the Western parks. The Western parks have clearly defined borders surrounded by national forests totaling hundreds of millions of acres. Anyone who's been to Jellystone knows its a long drive through some wild country before you ever see the entrance. When you leave you enter Tetons Park. And more National Forrest. And so on.
Why is the country's largest park - Adirondacks located in one of the most beautiful regions not considered a National park?
Why would NY want to give control to the feds? Unlike national parks, people actually live and owned the majority of the land not the government. The ADK is over 6 million acres which is larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Canyon, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined. The ADK is also larger than Vermont. Why would NYers want the feds touching that?
When the park was created, there were still sawmills, iron mines, and paper mills. There are still sawmills. I am not sure if there are any paper mills left with all of the closures there have been and mergers.
There are no gates to get into or out of the park unlike national parks. It's open 24/7/365. The park is free to enter unlike regular state parks.
The work to create the ADK was started in 1870 while the national park system was started until later. The first national park was Yellowstone in 1872. Congress must declare an area a national park. National parks can also lose their national park designation. The ADK can't lose it's state park status.
There are active railroads and airports in the ADK. They wouldn't be allowed under a national park. All the residents would be forced to leave as well. This happened in the Great Smoky Mountain Park. Imagine having land and homes in your family for generations and the government says get out because we want to make this a park. Would you be happy? By being a state park, the residents get to keep their land and homes. They still own their land and aren't forced to sell.
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