National Park Passport Stamps
Example of a National Park Passport Stamp for the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
At nearly all of the 423 units of the United States National Park System (and many of the National Park Service's affiliated areas), one or more National Park Passport Stamps can be acquired at no cost at park visitor centers and ranger stations. The stamps are similar in nature to passport stamps stamped in a traveler's national passport. The stamps serve as a record of each park visit. The Passport to Your National Parks program is run by Eastern National, a non-profit organization. The program started on October 30, 1986. Collectors of the stamps have formed a non-profit social club, the National Park Travelers Club, a group which holds annual conventions. The 2015 convention was held at Chamizal National Memorial.[1]
Passport books[]
Passport books, sold at Eastern National park stores and eParks.com, provide a place for park visitors to collect National Park passport stamps. Over 1,300,000 Passport books have been sold.[2] The 3.25" x 5.5" passport book provides five pages for each of the nine regions where the passport user can place ink stamps and can affix one featured stamp per page. A featured stamp collector's passport would therefore be filled after five years of use as long as the featured stamps were added to the book each year. In 2006, for the program's 20th anniversary, the "Passport Explorer" was released, featuring a binder and larger pages.[3] Due to its binder format, the Passport Explorer allows the user to easily add extra pages for additional stamps and featured stamps.
National Park Passport Regions[]
The nine passport regions (The DC area is its own region)
The National Park Service is administratively divided into regions. Each region provides oversight and guidance to the park units within its geographic area. While the NPS currently divides the various parks, monuments, and other units among seven regions, the passport booklet observes the nine regions in effect when the program was established.
Passport to Your National Parks annual stamp series[]
In addition to the stamps, each year the National Parks Passport Program releases a set of ten full-color collector stamps featuring a photo and description of one park per region. Passport holders can affix these adhesive stamps to their Passport book in a designated space below which they can stamp the corresponding stamp. The Park units featured on the stamp sets change each year.
The stamp sets, dating back to their inception in 1986, are still readily available at most park unit gift shops for under $10, or on the internet through Eastern National.
Originally, the featured stamps were only available in the region they represented, save for Colonial National Historical Park, where Eastern-National was headquartered. In 1986 the stamps were printed on thin cardboard, which distorted the passbook due to the combined thickness of the cardboard. Each stamp would be mounted onto its respective page with a lightweight, black, adhesive-backed plastic sleeve. Since 1987, the annual stamp series have been minted on a single sheet of adhesive-backed glossy paper, of a quality similar to that of conventional postage stamps.
Featured stamps[]
| Year | National Stamp | Regional Stamps |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Statue of Liberty |
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| 1987 | Independence National Historical Park/Independence Hall |
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| 1988 | The five winners of the Arts for the Parks contest:
|
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| 1989 | Yellowstone National Park |
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| 1990 | Sequoia National Park |
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| 1991 | Muir Woods National Monument |
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| 1992 | San Juan National Historic Site |
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| 1993 | Grand Teton National Park |
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| 1994 | Golden Spike National Historic Site |
|
| 1995 | Glacier National Park |
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| 1996 | Mesa Verde National Park |
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| 1997 | Everglades National Park |
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| 1998 | Women's Rights National Historical Park |
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| 1999 | Mount Rainier National Park; Bonus Stamp - Commemorative Issue: U.S. Department of the Interior. |
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| 2000 | Minute Man National Historical Park |
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| 2001 | Independence National Historical Park - The Liberty Bell
 |
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| 2002 | Glen Canyon National Recreation Area |
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| 2003 | Saguaro National Park |
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| 2004 | Navajo National Monument |
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| 2005 | George Washington Memorial Parkway |
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| 2006 | Petrified Forest National Park |
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| 2007 | Kalaupapa National Historical Park |
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| 2008 | Pinnacles National Park |
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| 2009 | Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site |
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| 2010 | Dinosaur National Monument |
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| 2011 | Fort Sumter National Monument in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War |
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| 2012 | Shiloh National Military Park in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War |
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| 2013 | Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial |
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| 2014 | Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine |
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| 2015 | Appomattox Court House National Historical Park |
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| 2016 | National Park Service Turns 100 |
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| 2017 | Denali National Park and Preserve |
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| 2018 | Appalachian National Scenic Trail |
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| 2019 | Grand Canyon National Park |
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| 2020 | Women’s Rights National Historical Park |
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| 2021 | Golden Gate National Recreation Area |
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| 2022 | Lake Mead National Recreation Area |
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References[]
- ^ "National Park Travelers Club 2015 Convention Preview". NPTC. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
- ^ "New Passport Explorer Available". National Park Service.
- ^ "Passport Explorer Edition" (PDF). Eastern National. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-07-19.
External links[]
Categories:
- National parks of the United States