Remarkably, All These Things Fit in This New York Park

Hiding in plain sight in New York State is a piece of land with more than 3,000 lakes and 30,000 miles of creeks, rivers, and streams. It's also the largest piece of publicly protected land in the lower 48 states.

That statistic may sound simple enough, but the sheer size of the protected area is mind-blowing. It helps to put it in perspective with some scale.

The Biggest Park in the Contiguous United States is in New York

The land in question is Adirondack Park in upstate New York. Founded over 130 years ago in 1892, the roughly 6 million acres of land can fit some of our most famous national parks like Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Everglades all within its boundaries (below). But that's not all.

How Big is Adirondack Park in New York?

Adirondack Park is three times the size of Delaware, roughly nine times bigger than Rhode Island, and almost twice the size of Connecticut (below). While the acreage is impressive, many New York residents point to one detail that might be skewing the statistic.

Mixed-Use Land in Adirondack Park

Adirondack Park might be 6 million acres, but only about half of the land is public. The other half, while protected in many regards, is privately owned and comprised of homes, farms, towns, and private forests.

Rules and Regulations for Adirondack Park in New York

The 2.8 million acres of state-owned land follows the rules and regulations of the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, while private landowners adhere to the Adirondack Park Land Use guidelines.

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Speaking of private land, while much of the acreage is owned by local families, its appeal as a vacation destination is still very active for tourists (including some very famous ones). Check out the Adirondack house for sale that was formerly owned by Brooke Shields below.