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National parks in the USA. Author:Veronika Blichárová 2.CZA. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
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National parks in the USA Author:Veronika Blichárová 2.CZA
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Yellowstone is the oldest park in the U.S. park system and is its flagship. Each year, it draws three million visitors; by some estimates, one-third of the U.S. population will visit this place during their lifetime. They come to experience the park's restless geology; to see grizzlies, gray wolves, and herds of buffalo; and to fish legendary trout streams like the Madison and the Yellowstone River. Most of all, they come to reconnect in some way with a sense of primordial America, the larger-than-life landscape that existed before railroads, highways, telephones, and a host of other technologies began to cut everything down to size. Visitors here are whisked to a land of bubbling, pulsing eruptions. Geysers, waterfalls, hot springs, and steam vents are as much a part of the landscape as are the animals and foliage. Plants thrive in the park, which hosts some 1,200 native species--even plants of semiarid grasslands and alpine tundra are represented. More than 300 species of birds, including the bald eagle, and 59 species of mammals--such as bison, elk, and grizzly bears--have made Yellowstone their home.
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona The Grand Canyon has been touted as the Eighth Wonder of the World ever since John Wesley Powell braved the raging whitewater in its depths in 1869. It's inarguably the most overexposed icon of the American landscape—every year, 5 million people come to gawk into the abyss, and you have to wonder if the millions ofrolls of film shot here through the generations might come close to filling the canyon from river to rim. Yet no matter how jaded you might feel after years of seeing postcards, snapshots, and IMAX movies of the Grand Canyon, or for having been stuck in the slow-moving traffic of a South Rim-bound caravan of RVs, the Big Ditch's power to move first-time visitors is inescapable. That first view of this mighty gouge in the skin of the earth will hit with the force and surprise of a heavyweight's sucker punch. Its scale and topography is that overwhelming. For many, the views alone are worth the price of admission. But adventurers won't—and shouldn't—be satisfied with looking. Whether hiking down below the rim, floating through the Colorado River's alternating series of hair-raising rapids and cathedral-still quiet water, or marveling at the touch of 2-billion-year-old rock under your fingers, it's interacting with this landscape that induces what writer Barry Lopez has called a unique "state of awe."
Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, these springs were considered so valuable that in 1832, Congress designated them a "reservation," making the springs the first national park in the United States in all but name. Flowing from Hot Springs Mountain, these 47 hot springs became a popular attraction for visitors seeking therapeutic relief, or just simple, steamy relaxation. Eight historic bathhouses form Bathhouse Row, including the elegant Fordyce Bathhouse cum Visitor Center, and comprise a National Historic Landmark District. An indulgent thermal bath is a must for any visitor to Hot Springs, and there is no lack of bathhouse concessionaires in the park's surrounding area. Behind Bathhouse Row is the lovely Grand Promenade, where great views of the protected springs and landscape can be taken in during a post-bath stroll. Should the steamy springs make a visitor drowsy, the 25-plus miles of hiking trails winding through the park offer an invigorating alternative. Trekkers who reach the observation tower at the top of Hot Springs Mountain will be rewarded with views of the verdant Ouachita Mountains.
