Marie Thurman
What will you feel as you enter a national park? Many words have been written to describe the experience, but nothing can truly capture the complete amazement as the breathtaking views catch your breath. It's something you must discover for yourself at least once in your lifetime, if not time and time again. Though songs, poems and photographs have tried to capture the essence of national parks, only your senses will tell the true story. In this research paper I will be discussing national parks. I will be explaining what qualifies a park to be a national park, and two main national parks in the United States, Yosemite National Park and The Grand Canyon.
History and Definition
A national park is a noun defined as a tract of
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Yosemite is surrounded by wilderness areas: the Ansel Adams Wilderness, the Hoover Wilderness, and the Emigrant Wilderness. Yosemite national park has an annual visitation that exceeds 3.5 million. Most of these visitors concentrate only on the seven main square miles of Yosemite Valley.
Yosemite is a 1,200-square-mile park that contains thousands of lakes and ponds, 1,600 miles of streams, 800 miles of hiking trails, and 350 miles of roads. Two scenic rivers, the Merced and Tuolumne, begin within Yosemite's borders and flow west into the Central Valley of California. Yosemite is famous for its high concentration of waterfalls in such a limited area. Although hundreds of waterfalls appear in different places during rainfall, the primary waterfalls are:
§ Bridalveil Falls (620 feet)
§ Chilnualna Falls (690 feet)
§ Illilouette Fall (370 feet)
§ Lehamite Falls (1,180 feet)
§ Nevada Fall (594 feet)
§ Ribbon Falls (1,612 feet)
§ Royal Arch Cascade (1,250 feet)
§ Sentinel Fall (1,920 feet)
§ Silver Strand Falls (574 feet)
§ Snow Creek Falls (2,140 feet)
§ Staircase Falls (1,020 feet)
§ Tueeulala Falls (840 feet)
§ Vernal Fall (317 feet)
§ Wapama Falls (1,700 feet)
§ Waterwheel Falls (300 feet)
§ Wildcat Falls (630 feet)
Yosemite Falls is the highest measured waterfall in North America. It is a major attraction in the park, especially in late spring when the water flow is at its peak.
The total 2425-foot
National Parks are one of the great gifts of nature. National Parks are often a designated area of wilderness kept preserve to protect wildlife and biodiversity in the society. This site attracts multiple people around the world leading to explore nature and understand the life around this park. The importance of the park brings many cultures together to experience the recreational activities the Olympic National Park provides. The Olympic National Park is one of the great national parks in the United States. This National Park is one of the top most visited parks in the United States. It continues to show its great features and reasons as a park, World Heritage site, and the many ecosystems it inhabits.
My high school used to have a camping trip to the place called big bend national park; that was a memorable journey.We used to hike over there; we spent like two or three hours to attend the highest mountain of big bend national park; you can't imagine how was the beautiful view, it was like you are standing the highest point of this national park, you can see everything you want see of this national park, there don't have anything can impede your sight line, you can see those river as very clearly, and the river is like endless, it keep extend over and over, there also have some cliff, those cliff may have different shape, they cover all the
The Grand Canyon is in the northwest corner of Arizona, bordering Utah and Nevada. Did you know that more than five million people visit Grand Canyon National Park per year? The Grand Canyon is roughly 280 miles long, 18 miles wide, and in some places more than 1 mile deep! The volume of this enormous park is estimated to be over 5.5 trillion cubic yards, now that is impressive! While the Colorado River carved this
Giant Sequoia trees, at ground level, are about 20-30 ft in diameter. Most trees in the groves are about 1000-3000 years old. Giant Sequoias are felled by wind or snow in the winter, or humans who cut them down. The conditions in which the trees live must be very specific. They require lots of precipitation, higher elevation, deep glacial soil, and some warmth. Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park are naturally found in droves such as the Mariposa, Tuolomne, and Merced Groves. The other place it is found is in the Yosemite Cemetery. Before his death, Galen Clark chose his gravesite and planted four Giant Sequoias at the corners of his grave. The discovery of the Giant Sequoias started in 1860 by the early Euro-Americans. they lined up horses, stagecoaches, and troops alongside and on top of fallen trees to show how large and tall they were. Unfortunately, some people saw the trees as an opportunity for wealth by felling the trees. In 1864, Congress discussed whether or not the Yosemite Valley or Mariposa Grove should be protected. The idea of preservation led to larger expansions of national parks in the western U.S., and the idea of national parks stemmed from the big trees. Also, the National Park Service logo has the picture of a giant Sequoia on it. People from all over the world come to visit the groves. The size and age of the
Physical description of Turner Falls, Turner Falls Park is located in Davis,Oklahoma. The Turner Waterfall is located in The Arbuckle Mountains. Turner Falls Park is 1,500 acres and it contains lots of natural hiking trails and natural caves. Turner Falls Park is the home of the largest waterfall in Oklahoma. The waterfall is 77 feet tall and is in the heart of The Arbuckle Mountains. The park contains three natural caves and also has natural swimming areas. Turner Falls has trout fishing every year and has a rock castle that can be
Muir believed that the stunning beauty of the Yosemite valley deserved to be protected so that people from all around the world could view. From the first time Muir saw the Sierra Nevadas he regarded them very highly, “a landscape was displayed that after all my wanderings still appears as the most beautiful I have ever beheld. At my feet lay the Great Central Valley of California” (Muir 2). Muir goes further in detail as to why it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen, “Along the top and extending a good way down, was a rich pearl-gray belt of snow; below it a belt of blue and dark purple, marking the extension of the forests… from the blue sky to the yellow valley smoothly blending as they do in a rainbow, making a wall of light ineffably fine. Then it seemed to me that the Sierra should be called, not the Nevada or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light” (Muir 2 and 3). This beauty that Muir describes in his book The Yosemite was one of the major contributors to his founding of the Yosemite valley as a national park (Muir 1-3).
According to Larry Beck in his work, “The National Park Centennial: What the Parks Mean to Us Today,” Yosemite is far more significant than just a pretty place to visit. This national park holds a great significance in the hearts of Americans, for it represents the strength and determination of our nation amidst the crises which were brought on by the
Yosemite National Park is located in central California in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The amazing views of the National Park were created greatly from glacial activity. It has produced many waterfalls, U-shaped canyons, and the iconic mountain, Half Dome. There are some of the tallest waterfalls in the United States located at the park. Yosemite Falls is one of
The Upper Yosemite Falls hike is fast becoming one of the most popular hikes in Yosemite. Being the tallest waterfall in North America, climb this day hike and you will be rewarded with some amazing vistas of the Yosemite Valley from the top of the falls. The reward is worth the effort! Be forewarned, on 3-day summer weekends, expect lines of people hiking up to Upper Yosemite Falls like a trail of ants.
John Muir or the writer of The Incomparable Yosemite put in his writing how Yosemite's rocks feel and how soft they are "how softly these rocks are adorned" states the reading.Also "their feet among beautiful groves and meadows, their brows in the sky, a thousand flowers leaning confidingly against their feet, bathed in floods of water, floods of light, while the snow and waterfalls, the winds and avalanches and clouds shine and sing and wreathe about them as the years
In Challis, Idaho there is one out of many protected areas known as Frank-Church River of No Return Wilderness. This protected area consists of a very large space of land because it is 2,366,757 acres, this is mentioned on the website where I found the information about this area. With the information that I gathered the website states how large this wilderness area is, and in some pictures that I looked at it is shown that there is a large and beautiful river which is part of Frank-Church River of No Return Wilderness hence the name of the wilderness area. The river is open to the public so that those who want to visit can. People who do plan to visit Frank-Church River of No Return Wilderness, may go on hikes and explore around the area and
The parks have been a part of his life since childhood, and he continues to share the experiences with his children. Along with baseball and jazz (other topics for documentaries by Duncan and fellow filmmaker Ken Burns), Duncan chose to explore the topic of national parks because of how it helps us understand who we are as Americans. Duncan chooses to explore the history behind the idea of national parks, and wants to share and discuss the factors that played a role in the evolution of the park system as well as their growth. He uses famous historical figures to give clearer, more factual insight as to how the parks shaped their lives and the why they had dedicated so much effort to the preservation of the park
On the surface, they appear very similar, but someone more experienced with landscape variation and how they are formed, would be able to see the difference. The largest difference between the parks lies underneath. To a certain point all three parks were formed the same, but the tectonic activity behind this formation is the main driver of all the differences found. Underneath the Sierra range there is one giant solid granite base. This creates a large flat shelf that was tilted, causing a sloping effect. This large slab of granite was formed when a huge section of the earths crust broke away from the rest creating its own new fault lines. This large broken piece was then pushed up and west, and this slow process continues on in the present day. So in Yosemite and the rest of the Sierra range the underlying granite is broken into many smaller segments, allowing magma activity to intrude from many different internal locations. The size of the segments is where the small differences
The Iguazu Falls were formed around 132 million years ago from a massive volcanic eruption, that may have been one of the biggest eruptions in the last hundred million years. During the volcanic eruption basaltic Lava flooded the area leaving many cracks due to the earthquakes, and forming the basis of the falls. Before, this happened the land was a desert. Although, Iguazu Falls were formed from the volcanic eruption they also formed from the river running over the hard rock formed from the faults due to the basalt and eruption. These falls are located on the border of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina in South America. They are a long strip of 14 miles of waterfalls and the height of the waterfalls range from 60 to 82 meters. The falls get
Our nations incredible 401 National Parks are some of the most iconic places on the face of the earth. From the Grand Canyon to the Great Smoky Mountains our nation's national parks are something we should be proud to have. Lately our National Parks have been under threat from both Environmental and Political issues both putting our National Parks at risk. We need preserve the National Parks for generations to come. The National Parks show the most amazing parts of this great nation, they are the source of billions of dollars in revenue, and they are the home to countless forms of wildlife.