By the signing of a bill in 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant presented America with a gift from oil baron John D. Rockefeller: its first national park, the mighty Yellowstone, with more than 3,000 square miles of wilderness. The bill stated that Yellowstone would be "set apart as a public park or 'pleasuring ground' for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."

One hundred thirty-three years and 387 parks later, our National Park Service, administrator since 1916 of large sectors of the nation's federal lands, has espoused a broader and deeper mission. Today, each area within the national park system — including 57 parks, 77 historic sites, 11 battlefields, 74 monuments, 41 historical parks, 18 recreation areas, 10 national seashores and scores of other natural and manmade sites — is recognized as an important natural environment and ecological resource in its own right. Visitors' recreational needs are balanced with the protection and management of land, water, historical monuments, plants and animals within park boundaries.

This concept of stewardship and conservation will be severely tested as evermore hikers, campers, sportsmen and sightseers look to the nation's parks for recreation and vacations. More than 265 million visits were logged last year at our urban and wilderness national parks, which are located in 48 states, the District of Columbia and several territories.

Leading the Top 10 list of annual visitors last year was North Carolina-Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains, Arizona's Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park in California. These are followed in popularity by Washington's Olympic National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Wyoming's Yellowstone, Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Zion in Utah, Maine's Acadia National Park and Grand Teton in Wyoming.

Consider the vastness of our natural patrimony. More than 70 million magnificent acres are under the protection of the national park Service. Other federal lands, equally as beautiful and many times larger than those in our national park System, are administered within the Department of the Interior by the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Forest Service and lesser public agencies. As part owner of millions and millions of acres of federal lands, you ought to explore your legacy firsthand.

Planning your trip carefully and reserving accommodations far in advance are keys to a rewarding travel experience. First contact the National Park Service, (202) 208-4747 or its excellent Web site www.nps .gov for general information on parks that interest you and links to individual park Web sites for details on park locations, special attractions, facilities, accommodations, regulations, and educational programs. Its official nonprofit partner is the National Parks Foundation, (888) 467-2757 or www.nationalparks.org, that provides passes, maps and literature, travel information and profiles of each park in the system. GORP, the outdoor recreation Web site, gorp.away.com, has a complete listing and reviews of favorite parks for hiking, wildlife spotting, kayaking or for whatever your activity of choice.

Guidebooks are invaluable in organizing independent journeys to wilderness and historical parks. The most comprehensive book, the 11th edition of "The Complete Guide to America's National Parks," is published by Fodor Travel Publications. An excellent series of "National Park Discovery Guides" and other helpful planning resources are available through a nonprofit watchdog, the National Parks and Conservation Association, (800) 628-7275 or www.npca .org. National Geographic, (800) 638-4077 or www.nation algeographic.com, has produced a superb "Guide to the National Parks of the United States" that provides maps and touring suggestions and detailed travel information on 50 of America's most scenic parks.

Annual passes can save you considerable money on entrance fees levied on cars and individuals. The National Parks Pass at $50 admits one private vehicle with all passengers if a park has a per-vehicle entrance fee or the cardholder, spouse, children and parents if there is a per-visitor fee. Purchase at any national park entrance or in advance through the National Park Foundation.

For $15 more, a Golden Eagle hologram may be purchased and affixed to a National Parks Pass to cover entrance fees at not only national parks, but also at sites managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

At any National Park entrance, those 62 and older may apply in person for the Golden Age Passport, $10, which allows lifetime free entry by holder and companions to all sites within the National Park System, plus a 50 percent discount on any federal user's fees, such as for boating and camping. A Golden Access Pass for the permanently disabled is free and provides the same benefits.

Be prepared to make firm reservations for lodges or campsites many months in advance of summer high season at the most visited national parks. The National Park Reservations Service, (800) 365-2267 accepts bookings at 36 of the nation's most popular parks including Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah, Rocky Mountain, and Sequoia & Kings Canyon and for reserved tours at Mammoth Cave. Other sites have their own reservations numbers and may be found on the NPS web site.

If you really want to ensure a personal wilderness experience and avoid rubbing elbows with thousands of fellow recreation enthusiasts, look into 170 lesser-known national parks. These off-the-beaten-path, "hidden" jewels boast dramatic natural or historical features and low visitor counts. Among the most appealing are Washington's North Cascades (glaciers); New Mexico's Chaco Culture National Historical Park (prehistoric Native American pueblos); Voyageurs National Park (paddle lakes) in Minnesota; Utah's Arches National Park (1,500 natural sandstone arches); Isle Royale (North Woods wilderness island) in Michigan; and South Florida's Biscayne (coral reef).

If you prefer to leave the organizing to someone else, have your travel agent contact traditional tour operators that feature escorted programs to National Parks. These include deluxe-standard Tauck Tours, (800) 468-2825 or www.tauck .com, and Maupintour, (800) 255-4266 or www.maupintour .com. Good choices for lessexpensive programs would be Globus, (866) 755-8581 or globusjourneys.com; Cosmos, (800) 276-1241 or cosmosvaca tions.com; and Collette Tours, (800) 340-5158 or collettevaca tions.com.

Irene Croft Jr. of Kailua, Kona, is a travel writer and 40-year veteran globetrotter. Her column is published in this section every other week.