Contrast today’s experiences of a Danish National Park with America’s National Parks in general, or specifically with one that you have visited.

A national park can be defined differently depending on what country you live in and what kind of area the park is located on. After our visit to the Danish National Park, Kongernes Nordsjylland, I noticed several differences between the Danish park and that of the United States. Even though both the Danish National Parks and the American National Parks have a desire and a need to preserve and protect sections of their nations, the two do so in different ways and have different styles of doing so.

In the Danish National Parks, they try to preserve as much land as possible, and most of the land in Denmark is suitable for agriculture and farming. Due to this, the parks allow people to live there, and use their own land to farm, even though their land lies within the boundaries of the national park. Unlike the Danish National Parks, many of the parks in the United States are located in areas with rougher terrain. The Grand Canyon is located in a very dry climate and the Everglades are in a large, wet swamp-like area. Due to this, there are very few people living within them, let alone making a living within them.

A house on the grounds of Kongernes Nordsjylland, Denmark.

Another difference between the parks is their size and shear number of parks located within the country. Based on the size of the two countries, Denmark and the United States, the United States has far more area to hold large national parks, which is reflected in the number of national parks housed in both countries. Currently the United States has 59 national parks and Denmark has 3, not including Greenland and many of the United States’ parks are much larger simply based on the fact that there is more room for them in the United States.

View of a lake within Kongernes Nordsjylland, Denmark.

Another difference between the two countries’ national parks is the usage and fees associated with both. In the United States, many people view national parks as tourist destinations or vacation places, whereas the Danish view their national parks similar to the way they view other parks, just on a more grand scale. In the United States, families take vacations to see vast open spaces that have been preserved and set aside from modern infrastructure. Even though the United States has more national parks, the Danish focus more of their culture around the use of parks, both nationally and locally. Danes can be seen exercising, boating, swimming and enjoying nature in national parks and local parks alike on any given day. In the United States, there is a very different culture when talking about parks. While there are many people who go and enjoy the parks in the United States, there is a much lower percentage of Americans that use parks on a daily basis compared to that of the Danish. In addition to this, many of the parks in the United States charge a small fee upon entering, while the Danish national parks do not. This makes the parks in Denmark much more accessible for everyday use opposed to just visiting every once in a while like many Americans do.

The Grand Canyon, United States of America.

 Even though the goals of national parks are similar in both countries, the ways of achieving those goals differ. The two countries each have national parks that serve their people in ways that suit the culture of their nation, and that is why the parks are utilized so differently.

Pathway within Kongernes Nordsjylland, Denmark.