2016年是美国国家公园管理局成立100周年。在过去的100年里，美国国家公园系统已成为重要的国家资源，在刺激经济发展和提高公众生活质量方面起着重要的作用，对门户城镇经济发展尤为如此。本文简要回顾了美国国家公园系统，包括它的历史、使命、规划重点和方法，并着重探讨了门户城镇和国家公园之间相互依托、相互合作、共同发展的关系，以及随着近年来国家公园游客、门户城镇访客和居民数量的日益增长，它们所面临的问题和挑战。笔者以落基山国家公园和它的主要门户城镇——埃斯蒂斯公园小镇 (the Town of Estes Park) 作为案例，探讨其成功的经验与存在的具体问题，并就有关中国国家公园系统的设立、国家公园和其门户城镇的关系及规划重点等提出建议，仅供“秦巴山区绿色循环发展”研究项目参考。

This year is the one-hundredth-year anniversary of the United States National Park Service (US NPS). Over the last one hundred years, the national park system of the United States had become an important national asset that had played a significant role in stimulating economic development and growth as well as enhancing quality of life, especially for the gateway communities. This paper provides a brief overview of the US NPS, including its history, mission, and key planning process and approaches. This paper focuses the discussion on the interdependent relationship between the gateway communities and the national park system, as well as the issues and challenges associated with the recent significant growth of tourists in the parks and of visitors and residents in the gateway communities for both those communities and the parks. This paper uses Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and the town of Estes Park, RNMP's main gateway community, as a case to study and discuss specific issues and successful experiences, and provides a list of lessons learned that can be considered by the research project of the Qinba Mountain Area green & circular development.