What is the difference between a national park, state park, and wilderness?

I mean... what are the differences to US, as a people? Like... can we drive a certain vehicle in one area, and not drive it in another. Etc... Thank you.What is the difference between a national park, state park, and wilderness?
A "National Park", is owned by the federal government in Washington D,C,, A "State Park", is owned by the state that it is in,..The rules in each kind of park, are set by the government that owns it,..but generally speaking, in both kinds of parks, NO off road vehicles are allowed,..Most "Wilderness" areas are under the control of the federal government,..%26amp; off road driving is forbidden, as are such things as hang gliding %26amp; mountain bikes,..Both the national government %26amp; state governmemts have "Recreation Areas" where such things as mountain bikes %26amp; dune buggies are allowed,..
national park = national, recognized by the national government as a US park.

state park = recognized by the state as a state park, not as a national park

wilderness = the wild. Go watch Madagascar if your not sure what the wilderness is. Few people live there, animals dominate it, and theres barely any roads in it. Its straight trees for as far as the eye can see.What is the difference between a national park, state park, and wilderness?
First, all three of these are what we call "public land".



A national park is owned by every U.S. citizen and is protected by the federal government. National Parks are usually the most "spectacular" of our public lands, but they also offer some development such as roads, restrooms, a few eateries, rustic lodges, tourism guides and so forth. An example of a national park would be Glacier National Park or Yellowstone National Park.



A wilderness area is a section of land owned by U.S. citizens that has the highest land protections given by government. No roads are allowed, nor are motors or mechanized transport. Most wilderness areas exist in national forest lands, but they can also exist in BLM lands and in national parks. National Forests are also owned by U.S citizens and administered by the federal government.

Usually you will find that national forests border national parks! All of these work to create extensive ecosystems. Actual wilderness is quite rare in the lower 48, especially east of the Mississippi. Wilderness areas are the wildest land we have. Also of note is thae fact there are millions of acres of pristine roadless land in our national forests that are not currently protected. These could be designated as wilderness.



State parks are administered by the local state government. They are usually smaller than national parks, and they are usually less wild than national parks, national forests and wilderness areas. There are a few exceptions(Porcupine Mountains State Park in Michigan for example). Also, the "quality" of state parks is usually at a level below national parks, national forests and wilderness areas. State parks also tend to allow more development such as more roads, more commercial interests and even resource extraction in somecases (logging, mining) as state government is more

succeptable to the pressure of local industry. State parks can have wilderness (see again Porcupine Mountains in Michigan), but this sort of wilderness protection is usually not as strict as the federal wilderness protection in national forests and national parks.