Click to Return to Beginning		THE NATIONAL PARKS AND EMERGENCY CONSERVATION THE NATIONAL PARKS AT A GLANCE Nature Guide Party on Top of Eagle Peak, Yosemite National Park Acadia, in Maine, contains a group of granite mountains on Mount Desert Island and a beautiful promontory on the opposite mainland across Frenchmans Bay. The only place on the eastern seaboard where sea and mountain meet. Bryce Canyon, in Utah, is a great amphitheater cut by erosion a thousand feet into the pink and white limy sandstones of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, and filled to the brim with myriads of fantastic figures carved by weathering influences, chiefly running water, wind, and changes in temperature. The amphitheater is 3 miles in length and about 2 miles wide. Carlsbad Caverns, in New Mexico, a series of connected caverns of unusual magnificence and extent, located in the rugged foothills of the Guadalupe Mountains. The limestone decorations of these caverns are superb. Crater Lake, in Oregon, is famous principally for its large lake of extraordinary blue, located in the crater of an extinct volcano and encircled by thousand-foot crater walls interestingly sculptured and tinted. The lake is 6 miles in diameter, with a maximum depth of 2,000 feet. General Grant, in California, contains the famous General Grant tree, one of the oldest and largest of the sequoia trees, and other interesting sequoias. Glacier, in Montana, is a region of rugged colorful mountains containing 250 glacier-fed lakes of unusual beauty. In it are 60 small glaciers, the remnants of the once mighty ice sheets that ages ago covered this area. Its precipices, thousands of feet deep, afford interesting material for the study of geology. Grand Canyon, in Arizona, contains the most spectacular portion of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. This gorgeously colored canyon is the world's greatest example of stream erosion. It is nearly a mile deep and at its widest portion within the park is 18 miles across. Grand Teton, in Wyoming, includes the Grand Teton Mountain group, one of the noblest mountain massings of the world and one of the few that can be described accurately as cathedral-like. Great Smoky Mountains, in North Carolina and Tennessee, contains the most massive mountain uplift in eastern United States. In this area is the finest virgin hardwood forest in the United States, and also the largest virgin forest of red spruce. No other known area of equal size contains such a variety of plant life. Hawaii, in the Territory of Hawaii, includes the summits of three famous volcanoes, extinct Haleakala, on the Island of Maui, with a crater large enough to hold a fair-sized city, and the active volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Kilauea on the Island of Hawaii. Kilauea is known especially for the turbulent lake of fire that at times fills its Crater. Tree ferns and other tropical vegetation add to the beauty of the park. Hot Springs, in Arkansas, is known for its hot waters, believed to possess healing properties since the days of the early Indians, long before the coming of the white man. Located in the picturesque Ouachita Mountains. Lassen Volcanic, in northern California, contains the most recently active volcano in the 48 States, having erupted less than 20 years ago. The park is an interesting exhibit of cinder cones, mud geysers, springs, and lava beds. Mesa Verde, in Colorado, has perhaps the most dramatic qualities of any park of the system. In it are the ruined homes of people who lived a thousand or so years ago and then disappeared, leaving behind them great communal dwellings. Cliff Palace, one of the community homes, contained at least 200 dwelling rooms before its upper walls crumbled into ruins. Mount McKinley, in Alaska, has as its main scenic feature the mountain for which it was named. This great peak reaches an altitude of 20,300 feet and is the highest in North America. It rises higher above the surrounding country than any other mountain in the world, not excepting the Himalayas. The park was established to afford protection to its interesting herds of caribou and mountain sheep. Mount Rainier, in Washington, contains the largest accessible single-glacier peak system in the United States, spreading out and down over the sides of an extinct volcano. From the summit and cirque of Mount Rainier 28 named glaciers move slowly downward, and there are others unnamed. The park also is famous for its wild-flower fields. Platt, in Oklahoma, is another area of hot springs and other waters believed to possess medicinal qualities. Rocky Mountain, in Colorado, is a splendidly representative section of the Rockies. In nobility, in sheer glory of stalwart beauty, it would be difficult to find a mountain group that could excel the snow-capped peaks standing at parade behind the famous Longs Peak. Sequoia, in California, contains magnificent groves of sequoias or big trees, the oldest and largest of living things. The largest, the General Sherman, is nearly 275 feet above its mean base and has a circumference of over a hundred feet. The park also contains a spectacular section of the High Sierra, including Mount Whitney, highest peak in continental United States exclusive of Alaska. Wind Cave, in South Dakota, contains a cave with several miles of galleries and numerous rooms, decorated with many beautiful crystal formations. Yellowstone, mostly in Wyoming but with small areas in Montana and Idaho, is the largest of our national parks. It contains, in its six main geyser fields, more and greater geysers than all the rest of the world combined. Another outstanding feature is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, interesting for its gorgeous coloring and interesting waterfalls. As a wild bird and animal preserve it is unequaled in the United States. Yosemite, in California, is a high mountain park of sheer beauty. In addition to Yosemite Valley, world famed for its loveliness, there are several other valleys of great charm. Many waterfalls of extraordinary height and majesty dash over the high granite cliffs into the valleys below. There are also three groves of sequoia trees. Zion National Park, in Utah, has as its principal feature Zion Canyon, a superb gorge varying in depth from 1,500 to 2,500 feet. Its precipitous walls are eroded in unusual forms and are vividly colored.
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