Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park had been selected by the Park Service to be the inaugural project for Mission 66 since it was the first national park. Like most national parks, planning for new building projects started well before the introduction of Mission 66 in the 1950s but received funding when the Eisenhower administration approved the ten-year program which aimed at upgrading park infrastructure in response to the post-World War II visitor boom. In February 1956, the Park Service signed a contract with the Architectural firm Welton Becket & Associates from California; by June, the park broke ground for Canyon Village. Due to the severity of Yellowstone National Park winters, planning and construction periods were narrow. Part of the construction plans included 300 cabins that would be used as motel rooms. Due to a $1 million budget mistake, Welton Becket & Associates and the Park Service increased the number of cabins to 512 to try to create more revenue for the park and recover from the budget fault. The dedication ceremony of the Canyon Visitor Center took place in August 1957, and the Canyon Lodge opened shortly after. After opening, the Canyon Visitor center operated until 2006 when it closed for renovations. The Park Service had the cabins demolished in 2013 to make room for a modern hotel.  The original Canyon Village Lodge featured a mid-century modern architectural style adapted to the natural surroundings of Yellowstone National Park. Little of the original Canyon Lodge remains today. To accommodate for an increase in visitors, renovators relocated restrooms outside, allowing more space inside for seating and visitor traffic throughout the building. The original structure had been constructed with stone, concrete, wood, and glass. Xanterra Parks and Resorts renovators relocated a bar in the dining area in 1964 and covered the wooden floors with carpet in 1985. Translucent walls were replaced by concrete, and all the original furnishings have been removed, except for one couch. Original features including fireplaces and wooden mantels have survived the renovations and add a touch of history to the interior of the space. The glass walls have remained unaltered as well. On the exterior, new roofing plans have been in the works to add flat roofs, but the architects are concerned about snowfall buildup causing a collapse. For now, the pitched roofs remain. The Yellowstone National Park Canyon Village Lodge still serves as one of the main stops in the park for visitors to relax and find a bite to eat.

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On January 26, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act, establishing Rocky Mountain as a national park and securing its boundaries. Lodge keepers owned private lands throughout the park where they maintained roads, built trails, and were guides to visitors. When the first superintendent arrived, he too began to authorize construction of facilities to support visitors. As visitation increased after World War I, the simple park conveniences and private lodges became inadequate. Rangers helped build comfort stations, museums, and well-maintained trails to meet visitor expectations. After World War II, a surge of visitation to all National Parks called for updated accommodations. The Eisenhower administration agreed and approved funding for the Mission 66 program which aimed to improve park infrastructure by 1966, the 50th anniversary of the Park Service. Rocky Mountain National Park’s Beaver Meadows Visitor Center was one of the last Mission 66 projects completed by the program. Planning for a new development started in 1956 but official proposals for construction did not begin until November 1962. Discussions over the design of the building were lengthy, but the real issue causing delays was location. Private land ownership throughout the park made finding a place to build the visitor center difficult. By September of 1962, the Park Service announced a location for the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center had been chosen after five years of debate. The tourist office was the first to be located outside of the park's main entrance and did not require an entry fee to access it. In March 1965, reviewing preliminary plans began and the Park Service announced official bidding for construction contractors. The Park Service contracted Taliesin Associated Architects, a firm made up of Frank Lloyd Wright’s apprentices, to design the new structure. On July 16, a groundbreaking ceremony officially launched construction. Issues concerning the forced air-cooling system delayed progress with production, and the center was not completed in time for the 1966 National Park Service 50th anniversary. Nevertheless, on June 24, 1967, the dedication ceremony and official opening of the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center took place. Despite being completed after the ten-year Mission 66 timeframe, this center is one of the most historically and architecturally significant National Park Service buildings in the country.  Today the exterior remains largely unchanged from its original state. The concrete and stone exterior walls have not required any renovations due to their natural design and intention to age with the environment. The interior has experienced a few changes: originally the space to the right of the entrance had a fireplace surrounded by stone and concrete, contrasting the wood paneled walls on the adjacent side. On the left side of the lobby was a staircase that led down to the restrooms on the basement level. Also to the left was the auditorium which was the main attraction for visitors. A door on the southeast side of the room led to a balcony that provided a view of the highest mountain in the park, Long’s Peak. Now, the visitor's experience has changed. The fireplace has been covered and the area turned into a store, the balcony has been blocked by new additions, and the view of Long’s Peak is no longer part of the experience. Renovations to provide handicap access have been added, but the Park Service does its best to make sure new work conforms to the historic design of the exterior.

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In the 1850s U.S. Army Lieutenant Amiel Whipple passed through the Painted Desert while surveying a route along the 35th Parallel. Impressed by the deposits of petrified wood, Whipple documented the finding, recording the first published account of the Petrified Forest. Thereafter, pioneers, sightseers, and scientists travelled to the region to collect samples of the petrified wood. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Petrified Forest National Monument, and in 1932 President Herbert Hoover added over 53,000 acres to the monument. The creation of Route 66 in 1926 brought motorists to the north end of the monument where entrepreneurs had built a trading post; at the south end there was a store. In response to the visitor boom at the end of World War II, the Eisenhower administration funded the ten-year Mission 66 program aimed at upgrading National Parks facilities and functions.  The Petrified Forest National Monument began planning for a new park headquarters in 1956 which was planned to include a new visitor center, administrative buildings, and residential housing. Park Service architects started drafting designs for a modern administrative building. In 1958 the Park Service contracted architects Richard Neutra and Robert Alexander to help design the new feature. They envisioned an urban hub with flat-roofed steel and glass buildings. It would be called the Painted Desert Visitor Center. Construction on a new site allowed for infrastructure growth and improvements throughout the park. However, the Park Service experienced a severe budget cut in 1959–1960 which forced delays on all Park contracts, including roads, utilities, and buildings. In 1959, Park Service Director Conrad Wirth reported that all park planning documents should be completed and stored away until funding arrived. In January of 1961 construction began and was officially completed in April of 1963. In December 1962, during construction, Congress recognized the Petrified Forest as the 31^st National Park. The design of the Painted Desert Visitor Center featured bright white concrete, aluminum beams, and floor-to-wall glass windows that allowed for visitors to see inside. The residential housing located on the second floor highlighted a long continuous window which brought light into the apartments and provided a view of the yard. The facility has undergone multiple renovations which have altered its exterior design aesthetically, though its layout remains relatively unchanged. In the 1970s Park officials started noticing faults in the building's construction which needed repairs to maintain safety. Renovations took place over the next few years and altered the outer appearance, including new paint in a red-brown palette which better blended the building into its surrounding environment. Conservation efforts have allowed the Petrified Forest National Park administrative point to remain open to the public every day.

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In 1909, Earl Douglass, a paleontologist from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, discovered a site riddled with fossilized dinosaur bones in the northeastern corner of Utah and created a camp where he began excavating remains. In the following six years Douglass sent over 700,000 pounds of fossilized bones, including full skeletons, to museums throughout the country. The discoveries caught the attention of President Woodrow Wilson, who proclaimed the site Dinosaur National Monument in 1915. Douglass began envisioning a museum which would display excavation sites in their original state, and in the 1920s planning for a structure over the quarry began. However, funding insufficiencies delayed building such a museum for the next three decades. Finally, in the mid 1950s, the Eisenhower administration funded a ten-year program to upgrade the National Parks system in response to the huge visitor boom after World War II. The program was part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Park Service that would occur in 1966, and it come to be known as Mission 66. By May of 1955 the Park Service produced preliminary plans, and a push for funding the project took place. March 1956 saw the announcement of new financing that covered roads, water, housing, and an information point. By May, the Park Service provided the first sketches of the new building. The National Park Service contracted the Anshen and Allen architectural firm from California in 1956 to design the Quarry Visitor Center, and in July Anshen and Allen provided the first seven-page document of preliminary sketches. Included in the sketches was a study of the sun’s movement throughout the year which was imperative to a glass building with sharp angles. However, Park Service Director Conrad Wirth denied the proposal due to budget constraints. After further negotiation, Park Service and Anshen and Allen agreed on plans for the Quarry Visitor Center, and construction began in early 1957. In May 1958, the R. K. McCullough Construction Company of Salt Lake City completed construction at the quarry site, and in June the center opened to the public.  Today the Quarry Visitor Center remains mostly in its original state. Despite some structural renovation in the 1960s due to shifting soil under the foundation, the aesthetic qualities of the building have been untouched. As visitors enter the courtyard there are restrooms and a covered patio, and an “oasis porch” of shaded space with benches. To the left is the entrance to the lobby where small exhibits share a space with the information desk and shop. To the right is the auditorium which is used to show the orientation movie. The building includes laboratory facilities, a research library, storage, and a dark room. The museum still features many of its original exhibit panels and displays with the addition of a few new ones over the years. The second-floor viewing deck remains open to visitors to explore the quarry site that has been incorporated into the building. Even though excavations are no longer taking place inside the museum, paleontologists left behind their tools, allowing visitors to reminisce on times now past.

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