National Parks Of the USA

In the last 100 years the natural beauty of the United States has diminished. Moreover, millions of animals have disappeared, and some species like the bald eagle, the emblem of the United States, are threatened with extinction. The guns of the hunters and careless use of chemicals have been lethal destroyers. The National Parks of the United States are designed to preserve the country’s natural heritage. Fauna and flora are specially preserved within these areas; beautiful and spectacular scenery protected from the ravages of thoughtless exploitation.

yellow stone

The 58 National Parks of the United States range from Florida and Maine in the east to Alaska and Hawaii in the west. The oldest of these parks, Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming, was established on 1st March 1872; the newest, in Arizona, was created in 1962. The total area covered by the parks is vast – over 31,000 square miles and they offer a tremendous variety of natural scenery. The splendid beauty of the Grand Canyon is in striking contrast to the lush, tropical vegetation of the Everglades in Florida. The 150 miles of underground caves and galleries in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park offer a totally different attraction to the towering snow-covered heights of Mount McKinley in Alaska, at 20,320 feet the highest point in North America.

The administration of they 58 parks is in the hands of the National Park Service, which in turn is responsible to the Federal Government’s Department of the Interior. The Service builds roads, lays out trails, and sets up camping sites within the parks; it also arranges for accommodation, cooking and washing facilities to be provided.

Because of the emphasis on conservation, the Park Service does not allow commercial concessions, and it does not allow speedboats or aircraft to disturb the peace. Shooting is strictly prohibited, fishing is only allowed in certain places, picking wild flowers or cutting down trees is discouraged; in fact, every possible precaution is taken to preserve the natural character of the parks.

ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE

Animals abound, and are zealously protected, in all the National Parks. They include black bears, brown bears, bison (which were once nearly extinct because of men like Buffalo Bill), moose, elk, pronghorn antelope, several species of deer, bighorn sheep, coyotes, wolves and many smaller mammals such as racoons and chipmunks. The birds in these areas are also specially protected. Wild flowers of great beauty flourish in several of the parks, especially Mount Rainer, Washington.

mount rainer

There are 58 National Parks in the United States, of which two are in the Hawaiian Islands (Haleakala and Hawaii National Parks), one is in Alaska (Mount McKinley). Most of the others are in the Middle West and West. The Park Service also administers special preserves like National Monuments, National Historic Sites, National Trails, and roads like the superb Blue Ridge Parkway which joins the Shenandoah and Great Smokey Mountain National Parks.

‘Old Faithful’ Yellowstone Park’s famous geyser ejects about 13,000 gallons of water at regular hourly intervals. The nearly boiling water rises about 130 feet. There are about 3,000 geysers and hot springs in the park.

arizona national park

Petrified forests are an amazing feature of the Arizona National Parks. They are forests which were covered by volcanic lava and slowly fossilised into stone. At one place this happened again and again, and scientists estimate that 27 different forests were buried alive one on top of another, many of them erect.

There are about 130,000 bears in the United States. This total includes black bears or ‘grizzlies’. Although there are large fines for feeding the bears, most tourists do so – and the animals wait along the roadside for this very reason. Bears can be dangerous, which is why feeding them is prohibited.

Sequoia-National-Park

The oldest and largest trees in the world are the sequoias which grow in 32 groves in Sequoia National Park in California. There is one that is named after General Sherman which is over 272 feet high; its diameter is 36 feet, and the circumference of the base is over 100 feet. Most of these trees are more than 3,500 years old. They owe their long life to their hard wood, and to the protection of their tannin-impregnated bark which is often 3 feet thick.

Part of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, probably the most famous of all the scenic wonders in the United States, has been made a National Park. The great cliffs and crevices are truly awe-inspiring. The colours – predominantly reds, yellows and purples – are breathtaking. The canyon is over 210 miles long, up to one mile deep, and between 3.5 and 18 miles wide. Through it run the broad waters of the mighty Colorado River.

Crater Lake in the southern Oregon is what its name suggests – a lake in the crater of an extinct volcano. It is almost round, and the waters (which are of a vivid blue, resembling certain parts of the Mediterranean) are about six miles in diameter and nearly 2,000 feet deep. On calm days there is not a ripple on the water, and the lake appears to be made of azure glass. When first discovered in 1853 it was named Deep Blue Lake. A wide road circles the lake, joining several lookout points from which visitors can view the whole panorama at once.

A LIST OF THE 58 NATIONAL PARKS OF THE USA

State	National Park	Year Established
Alaska has eight National Parks	Denali	1917
	Gates of the Arctic	1980
	Glacier Bay	1980
	Katmai	1980
	Kenai Fjords	1980
	Kobuk Valley	1980
	Lake Clark	1980
	Wrangell - St. Elias	1980
American Samoa	American Samoa	1988
Arizona has three National Parks	Grand Canyon	1919
	Petrified Forest	1962
	Saguaro	1994
Arkansas	Hot Springs	1921
California has eight National Parks	Channel Islands	1980
	Death Valley	1994
	Joshua Tree	1994
	Kings Canyon	1940
	Lassen Volcanic	1916
	Redwood	1968
	Sequoia	1890
	Yosemite	1890
Colorado has four National Parks	Black Canyon of the Gunnison	1999
	Great Sand Dunes	2004
	Mesa Verde	1906
	Rocky Mountain	1915
Florida has three National Parks	Biscayne	1980
	Dry Tortugas	1992
	Everglades	1947
Hawaii has two National Parks	Haleakala	1916
Hawaii has two National Parks	Hawaii Volcanoes	1916
Idaho	Yellowstone	1872
Kentucky	Mammoth Cave	1941
Maine	Acadia	1919
Michigan	Isle Royale	1940
Minnesota	Voyageurs	1975
Montana has two National Parks	Glacier	1910
Montana has two National Parks	Yellowstone	1872
Nevada	Great Basin	1986
New Mexico	Carlsbad Caverns	1930
North Carolina	Great Smoky Mountains	1934
North Dakota	Theodore Roosevelt	1978
Ohio	Cuyahoga Valley	2000
Oregon	Crater Lake	1902
South Carolina	Congaree	2003
South Dakota has two National Parks	Badlands	1978
South Dakota has two National Parks	Wind Cave	1903
Tennessee	Great Smoky Mountains	1934
Texas has two National Parks	Big Bend	1944
Texas has two National Parks	Guadalupe Mountains	1966
U.S. Virgin Islands	Virgin Islands	1956
Utah has five National Parks	Arches	1971
	Bryce Canyon	1928
	Capitol Reef	1971
	Canyonlands	1964
	Zion	1919
Virginia	Shenandoah	1935
Washington has three National Parks	Mount Rainier	1899
	North Cascades	1968
	Olympic	1938
Wyoming has two National Parks	Grand Teton	1929
Wyoming has two National Parks	Yellowstone	1872

National Parks Of the USA

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