National park National Park in 1914. The UK waited until 1951 for the designation of its first national park, The Peak District National Park which sits at the southern end of the Pennine Hills surrounded by industrial cities. This followed perhaps 70 years of pressure for greater public access to the landscape. By the end of the decade a further 9 national parks had been designated. Europe has some 359 national parks as of 2010. Africa's first national park was established in 1925 when Albert I of Belgium designated an area of what is now Democratic Republic of Congo centred on the
Establishment of Grand Teton National Park local disagreement, the monument and park were combined in 1950. In recognition of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s efforts to establish and then expand Grand Teton National Park, a parcel of land between Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks was added to the National Park Service in 1972. This land and the road from the southern boundary of Grand Teton National Park to West Thumb in Yellowstone National Park was named the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. In 2001, the Rockefeller family donated the remnants of its JY Ranch for the establishment of the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, dedicated on