USA National Park

Yosemite National Park embraces a spectacular tract of mountain-and-valley scenery in the Sierra Nevada, which was set aside as a national park in 1890. The park harbors a grand collection of waterfalls, meadows, and forests that include groves of giant sequoias, the world's largest living things. Highlights of the park include Yosemite Valley, and its high cliffs and waterfalls; Wawona's history center and historic hotel; the Mariposa Grove, which contains hundreds of ancient giant sequoias; Glacier Point's (summer-fall) spectacular view of Yosemite Valley and the high country; Tuolumne Meadows (summer-fall), a large subalpine meadow surrounded by mountain peaks; and Hetch Hetchy, a reservoir in a valley considered a twin of Yosemite Valley. read more...

Phone: 209-372-0200   Price Range: $0 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No  
Nearest Popular City: Yosemite National Park   Nearest Lake/River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Biking / Bicycling, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Backpacking, Cross Country Skiing, Downhill Skiing, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Rock Climbing, Kayaking, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Snowshoeing, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Yosemite National Park

Congress established Hot Springs Reservation on April 20, 1832 to protect hot springs flowing from the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain. This makes it the oldest area currently in the National Park System--40 years older than Yellowstone National Park. People have used the hot spring water in therapeutic baths for more than two hundred years to treat rheumatism and other ailments. The reservation eventually developed into a well-known resort nicknamed The American Spa because it attracted not only the wealthy but also indigent health seekers from around the world. Today the park protects eight historic bathhouses with the former luxurious Fordyce Bathhouse housing the park visitor center. The entire Bathhouse Row area is a National Historic Landmark District that contains the grandest collection of bathhouses of its kind in North America. By protecting the 47 hot springs and their watershed, the National Park Service continues to provide visitors with historic leisure activities such as hiking, picnicking, and scenic drives. Hot Springs Reservation became Hot Springs National Park by a Congressional name change on March 4, 1921. read more...

Phone: 501-624-2701   Price Range: $0 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes  
Nearest Popular City: Hot Springs   Nearest Lake/River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Birding, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Camping, Auto Touring, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Hot Springs National Park

At Bryce Canyon National Park, erosion has shaped colorful Claron limestones, sandstones, and mudstones into thousands of spires, fins, pinnacles, and mazes. Collectively called hoodoos, these colorful and whimsical formations stand in horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters along the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in Southern Utah. read more...

Phone: (435)834-5322   Price Range: $10 - $20   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes  
Nearest Popular City: Bryce Canyon   Nearest Lake/River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Birding, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Backpacking, Cross Country Skiing, Downhill Skiing, Wildlife Watching, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Snowshoeing, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Bryce Canyon