The sheer size of Arizona's Grand Canyon can overwhelm the senses: It's 277 river miles long, up to 18 miles wide and a mile deep. Upon visiting the area in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman, advocated for its protection, saying, "The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American should see." Grand Canyon National Park was established on Feb. 26, 1919.
Yellowstone National Park became the first national park in the U.S. when it was established in 1872. Many Americans consider it the quintessential American national park; its highlights include Old Faithful geyser, hot springs, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and wildlife such as grizzlies, wolves, elk and bison. The park, spanning across parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, boasts about 10,000 hydrothermal features — half of the ones that exist in the world — among them 300 geysers.
Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah is small by national park standards (56.2 square miles), but its unique geology is sure to leave an unforgettable impression. A series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters, this area is proof of the eroding forces of frost and rainwater. The limestone, in numerous and subtle hues, has been shaped into many spectacular formations, most famously into spires called hoodoos.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, straddling the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina, is the most-visited national park in the U.S., drawing between 8 million and 10 million visitors each year. In the seemingly endless wave of forested ridges, travelers find incredible diversity in plants and animals as well as sublime beauty in views of waterfalls, wildflowers and wildlife.
Acadia National Park in Maine became the first national park east of the Mississippi River when it was established in 1919 under the name Lafayette National Park. It encompasses seacoast, islands and mountains. Visitors can drive to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on the U.S. Atlantic coast at 1,530 feet, or around the 20-mile Park Loop Road, offering ocean and mountain vistas and sights such as Thunder Hole and Otter Cliffs. Or, those interested in more active pursuits can check out the historic carriage road system, built by John D. Rockefeller, which includes 17 stone bridges that carry cyclists and hikers over streams and waterfalls, past cliffs and around lakes.
South Dakota's Badlands National Park contains the world's richest fossil beds dating from the Oligocene epoch (28 million to 37 million years ago), telling the evolutionary story of mammals such as the horse. The park’s 244,000 acres comprise one of the largest protected mixed-grass prairies in the U.S., but Badlands is perhaps best-known for the colorful buttes, pinnacles and spires that have been shaped by erosion.
Big Bend National Park in Texas is considered to be three parks in one, with Chisos Mountains, Rio Grande and Chihuahuan Desert environments providing immense biological and geologic diversity. Big Bend is part of one of the largest transboundary protected areas in North America, with more than 2 million acres of Chihuahuan Desert resources and more than 200 miles of river under the protection of the U.S. and Mexico.
Crater Lake's quiet beauty was born in the violence of a volcano that caused Mount Mazama to collapse nearly 8,000 years ago. The lake, located in southern Oregon on the crest of the Cascades, is the deepest in the U.S. (1,943 feet), with crystal blue waters reflecting the surrounding sheer cliffs. Its only water supply is snow, averaging 533 inches a year.
Death Valley National Park stakes a claim as one of the hottest (temperatures reached 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913), driest (no rain was recorded in 1929) and lowest (Badwater Basin is 282 feet below sea level) places on Earth. Those who dare can see sand dunes bowing to the wind, snow-topped mountains and canyons curved by water. The park's name belies the fact that more than 1,000 species of plants call it home.
(to be continued)
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发表于 2009-8-14 10:24:37
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