Archive for the ‘Information’ Category
Posted by Muir on
September 18, 2009
If you read this blog regularly, then you already know that our U.S. national parks represent some of America’s greatest treasures. Our national parks offer hardcore hiking trails and wilderness of unparalleled beauty, where you can hike, bike, run, raft, kayak or climb. WebEcoist has started a series looking at the outdoor recreations to be discovered in the wild at U.S. National Parks. It starts with 12 rugged, untamed, unique National Parks for travelers to explore and enjoy new adventures in nature.
Take for example the Petrified Forest National Park in the Four Corners of the Southwest. Here, you can find one the world’s most colorful and largest collections of petrified wood. The Arizona sunlight can dazzle your senses as it paints the land in sweeping colors. The northern part of the park is called the Painted Desert and includes areas of the multi-hued badlands, while the southern part of the park contains heavy concentrations of fossilized wood and American Indian petroglyph sites. Some visitors have stated that the area is like a moonscape.
12 Rugged Adventures Through Exquisite National Parks
National Park Photo Tour
Posted by Muir on
July 17, 2009
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, near Keystone, South Dakota, is a monumental granite sculpture. It represents the first 150 years of the history of the United States of America with 60-foot sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents (left to right): George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The entire memorial covers 1,278 acres and is 5,725 feet above sea level. It is managed by the National Park Service, and attracts approximately two million people annually.
The Los Angeles Times has compiled 10 things you probably didn’t know about Mt. Rushmore, one of America’s favorite landmarks. For example:
1. Charles E. Rushmore was a lawyer from New York. He was sent to South Dakota to check titles on some properties around the Black Hills in 1884 or 1885. By the National Park Service’s account, Rushmore asked the name of the mountain, and nearby resident Bill Challis told him it had none “but from now on, we’ll call it Rushmore.” Talk about being in the right place at the right time!
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Mt. Rushmore
Posted by Muir on
March 15, 2009
The numerous designations in the National Park System (NPS) can sometimes confuse visitors. Some designations are descriptive, such as the national lakeshores, seashores, rivers and battlefields. But others cannot be neatly categorized because of the diversity of resources within them. In all, there are 14 primary NPS designations plus “affiliated” and “other”:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Muir on
March 14, 2009
About.com has created comprehensive guides to find U.S. national parks by:
By Name
Find a park through an alphabetical name search.
By Park Type
Find a park by its type of classification, such as national park, monument, memorial, seashore, battlefield, etc. There are 19 primary designations in all.
By State
Choose a park from a list of all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa, or make your selection from a clickable map.
By Topic/Recreational Activity
Locate a park by selecting from a list of more than 30 recreational activities and special topics.
By Ethnic/Cultural Heritage
Find parks that commemorate African-American, Asian-American, Native-American, and Hispanic-American cultural heritage.
