THE WORLD RENAISSANCE

National Park of Sequoia and Kings Canyon

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:57:00 +0000

Location: California
Sequoia: Established September 25, 1890
Kings Canyon: Established March 4, 1940
Size: 865,257 acres (350,157 hectares)

Bigness—big trees and big canyons—inspired the separate founding of each of these parks. In 1943 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks began to be jointly administered. The two contiguous parks are 66 miles (106 kilometers) long and 36 miles (58 kilometers) at their widest point.

Nearly every square mile of these vast parks is wilderness. A backpacker can hike to a spot that is farther from a road than any other place in the lower 48. But visitors can easily reach Sequoia's famed attraction, the Giant Forest of sequoias.

Relatively few visitors hike any of the parks' 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) of trails. Still, there are enough backpackers to worry officials, who protect the backcountry by regulating their numbers. Mount Whitney, at 14,494 feet (4,418 meters) the highest peak in the United States south of Alaska, rises at the eastern border. Backpackers coming in from the east can get to Whitney in one or two days. From the park's western trailheads, they reach it by a 70-mile (113-kilometer), 8-day trek across the park's snowswept, glacier-dotted heights.

Some visitors are startled to learn that some of the smoke they see rises from "prescribed burning"—controlled fires deliberately set by employees to help the sequoias by removing undergrowth. In the past, when the park fought all fires, brush and deadwood built up. (Seeds cannot germinate in duff so need fires to open groundcover.) The brush fueled fires that imperiled the sequoias—which resist flames at their bases but can die if fire attacks their crowns.

National Park of Prince Albert

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:56:00 +0000

Location: Saskatchewan

Date Established: 1927

Size: 957,500 acres

Typical of its era, Prince Albert National Park was created to serve as a recreational playground—its stewardship value would only be recognized much later. The park spans a slender transition zone between the northern boreal forest and the southern aspen parkland. Its rolling hills of spruce, pine, aspen, and birch shelter pockets of fescue and sedge meadows. Year by year, forestry concerns and encroaching civilization have threatened this ecosystem elsewhere, making Prince Albert today a precious preserve.

Park Facts

• Bison Haven Prince Albert is notable for the bison herd that roams along its southwestern border, the only free-range herd of wild plains bison in Canada that still occupies its ancestral territory. The herd is descended from a handful of animals once fenced along the south boundary of the park. It now boasts more than 200 head.

• Threatened Species Numbering many millions before near extirpation at the hands of European settlers, Canada’s largest land mammal—a bull can weigh nearly a ton—is still very much a threatened species. The animals do sometimes stray off parklands, much to the consternation of some neighboring landowners.

• Cree Home When Prince Albert National Park was established, its land was occupied by the Cree, who had settled in the area in the mid-19th century. Most of the Cree were then obliged to move east to Montreal Lake.

• Scandal The park became home to the renowned conservationist writer Grey Owl. Though he purported to be a member of the First Nations, he was in fact an Englishman named Archibald Belaney. The revelation of his true identity after his death was an international scandal. Nonetheless, Grey Owl’s conservationist message—“Remember, you belong to Nature, not it to you”—has stood the test of time. His cabin on Ajawaan Lake is one of the country’s best known hiking destinations.

How to Get There

Most visitors arrive by automobile via provincial Hwy. 2 and Hwy. 264, the quickest route to the Main Gate and the village of Waskesiu. Hwy. 263, a winding and scenic pavement that passes through the South Gate, is an alternate route. For access to the largely undeveloped West Side, visitors can use Hwy. 55. Saskatoon has the closest international airport and passenger rail service. The provincial bus line, STC, serves Waskesiu with daily departures from Saskatoon and Prince Albert. Service runs from early May to early September.

When to Go

The park is at its best between Victoria Day and Labour Day. The extra-long days around the end of June are especially glorious. The aspen and tamarack reach their height of tangerine color around mid- to late September, when you will have the park mostly to yourself. However, many businesses will be closed, so call ahead. Freeze-up and winter arrives quickly and there is usually enough snow for skiing from early December through late March. Recreational options are most limited in April, when the lake ice is unsafe and the roads and trails are muddy.

How to Visit

Set inside the park, the resort town of Waskesiu (Cree for “red deer”) offers accommodations, restaurants, shops, and services; hotel accommodations are available year-round. Typical visitors make the town their base for car-supported day trips on the East Side of the park, especially along Hwy. 263. Excellent sandy swimming beaches are found on Waskesiu, Namekus, and Sandy Lakes. There is an extensive trail network for day-use and backcountry hiking, cycling, and skiing on groomed trails. Backcountry paddling routes are limited, but there are many good day-trip options.

Visitors primarily interested in the park’s plains bison herd, or in horseback- and wagon-riding trips into the park, should consider staying at one of the guest ranches operating on the park’s West Side; park staff can make suggestions about accommodations and outfitters. In all cases, overnight backcountry stays require a permit from the Park Headquarters in Waskesiu.

National Park of Pacific Rim

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:56:00 +0000

Location: British Columbia

Date Established: 1970

Size: 126,500 acres

Few people forget the first time they walk out onto seemingly infinite Long Beach, a 10-mile strip of undeveloped coastline set against a backdrop of lush emerald rain forest and distant mountains. One of Canada’s most visited tourist attractions, the beach attracts surfers, beachcombers, and marine life enthusiasts.

Park Facts

• Three-Part Park Skirting the western fringe of Vancouver Island, Long Beach is the most northern of three park units, a 34,800-acre chunk of beach-fronted coastal temperate rain forest, and since 2000, a core protected area of the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. The shoreline stretches roughly between the town of Tofino in the north and Ucluelet in the south.

• Long Beach Hideout Unknown to the world before 1959, when a road was punched across the width of Vancouver Island, the beach became an end-of-world refuge for draft dodgers, hippies, and surfers until 1970, when the beach settlements were evicted for the new national park. Much of the laid-back vibe of that earlier era remains.

• Water-Access Only Directly to the east of Ucluelet are the Broken Group Islands—an archipelago of more than a hundred tiny, rugged islands at the center of Barkley Sound, a popular kayak destination. Only about 13,950 acres of land is found across the 26,440 acres of ocean park area; this maze of waterways and channels is accessible by watercraft only.

• Shipwreck Path The southernmost area is the 10,130-acre West Coast Trail unit, named for the 47-mile hiking path through pristine rain forest between Port Renfrew and Bamfield. The trail was established in 1907 as an emergency rescue path for shipwrecked mariners after 120 people died when the Valenciaran aground on a reef near Pachena Point during a gale.

• Native Culture The unifying elements of these three different units are water, rain forest, and the native Nuu-chah-nulth culture. Present in the Pacific Rim area for thousands of years, these master mariners and whale hunters utilized the natural resources for trade and sustainability and often battled the waves of Spanish, then British (and later Americans) who descended on the coast in the late 18th century to exploit furs, timber, and whale oil. Today 7 of 15 Nuu-chah-nulth tribes maintain at least 22 small reserves within the park boundaries and nine at the border of the park; they are active partners in park administration and interpretive programs.

How to Get There

Long Beach is the only one of the park’s three units that can be explored by car—and you will need one. From Victoria: travel northwest on Hwy. 19, take the Hwy. 4 exit about 21 miles past Nanaimo. (Hwy. 4 is beautiful but dangerous: It has steep grades, little room for passing, and traffic congestion in the summer.) Budget three hours for the drive from Nanaimo. From Vancouver, take a ferry from West Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal to Nanaimo and proceed to Hwy. 4. A right turn at the Tofino–Ucluelet junction leads to the Long Beach area. The highway runs through the park for 14 miles, with the town of Tofino at its end.

When to Go

For most activities at Long Beach, visit between June and Labour Day (the first Monday in September). Book ahead for accommodation during this time. For storm-watching and advanced surfing, the winter is best—fearsome winter gales can rip this coastline, conjuring waves 26 feet high, and dropping up to 19 inches of rain in a single day. The West Coast Trail is open between May and late September.

How to Visit

Most visitors stay for longer than a day, basing themselves in Tofino or Ucluelet. If a day is all you have, focus on Long Beach—roughly between the Tofino-Ucluelet junction and Wickaninnish Beach—where rain forest hikes, beach and tide pool exploration, and a surf lesson will easily fill a day.

Spend a second day whale watching and exploring the northern reaches of the park: Walk the sand dunes and tidal pools in Schooner Cove and look for wildlife in the sheltered, kayak-friendly Grice Bay. End the day with a dinner and walkabout in Tofino or Ucluelet (just beyond the northern park boundary), the best bases of operations for any park visit.

The weeklong West Coast Trail requires both advanced backcountry experience and substantial advance planning. The best way to see the Broken Group Islands is by boat. The Port Alberni-based M.V. Frances Barkley, a 120-foot passenger ferry, offers day trips through the islands June through mid-September.

National Park of Banff

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:56:00 +0000

Location: Alberta

Date Established: 1885

Size: 1,641,027 acres

Simplicity marks the origin of Banff—Canada’s first national park. In 1883, on the slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, three railway workers discovered a natural hot spring, and from there the park was born. Nowadays, Banff is one of the world’s premiere destinations, spanning a region of unparalleled majestic mountain scenery. Every year, millions of visitors make the pilgrimage to Banff to take in its stunning views and arsenal of activities.

Park Facts

• Ancient Beauty Banff—the birthplace of the world’s first national park service—is part of UNESCO’s Canadian Rocky Mountain World Heritage site. Located in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, the park boasts a cornucopia of postcard-perfect mountains. These ancient monoliths range from 45 to 120 million years old, with the highest in the park, Mount Forbes, coming in at 11,850 feet.

• Park Gems The park encompasses Banff, the highest town in Canada at an elevation of 4,540 feet; the hamlet of Lake Louise (5,052 feet), the highest permanent settlement in Canada; several national historic sites; Castleguard Caves, the largest cave system in Canada; more than a thousand glaciers; glacier-fed lakes such as Lake Louise as well as Moraine, Bow, and Peyto Lakes; and hundreds of hotels, restaurants, and retail shops, plus a 27-hole championship golf course.

• Legacy Trail In 2010, the park marked its 125th anniversary, commemorating some of the finest unspoiled ecosystems in the world. An integral part of the celebrations was the creation of the Banff Legacy Trail, a nonmotorized, paved trail for the likes of walking, cycling, and in-line skating. Incorporating scenic views, the 16-mile trail runs primarily along Trans-Canada 1 and the wildlife fence from the park’s East Gate to the Bow Valley Parkway.

How to Get There

Banff National Park is located 80 miles west of Calgary. Calgary’s international airport is serviced by major national and international carriers with multiple flights arriving daily. From the airport, rent a car and take Trans-Canada 1 west from Calgary straight into the park, through Banff and Lake Louise. A direct bus service from the airport or downtown Calgary is also available to Banff and Lake Louise, as are shuttle services through tour operators.

When to Go

Open year-round, Banff offers amazing wildlife viewing and sightseeing, plus plentiful shopping and dining options, any time of the year. Summer is popular for hiking, paddling, mountain biking and cycling, photography, and climbing. The best time for viewing seasonal color is fall, when the larch trees—the only coniferous trees to lose their needles in winter—turn yellow.

In winter, the mountain landscape makes for incredible downhill and cross-country skiing. In fact, three major downhill ski resorts operate within the park. Lake Louise Ski Area, Sunshine Village, and Mount Norquay combine to offer a large skiable terrain, not to mention the backcountry trails available throughout the park. The ski season, which runs from November to May, is one of the longest in North America. Visitors can also enjoy wildlife tours, ice walks, snowshoeing, and dogsled and horse sleigh rides.

Weather in the Canadian Rockies can change quickly. A single day can have a mix of sunshine, snow, wind, and rain, so dress in layers. Summers are warm with low humidity. Temperatures average a high of 70ºF, and daylight lasts until 11 p.m. Autumn brings cool nights and crisp air. Winters can be frigid. In January, the average daytime high is minus 19ºF, but by April it is 49ºF.

How to Visit

Visiting the park by car or tour bus is most common. In the town of Banff you can also catch the ROAM bus, a publicly accessible and environmentally friendly hybrid outfitted with wildlife information. Pick up a map or bus schedule at the Banff or Lake Louise visitor information centers. GPS guides are also available.

To get the most out of the park, plan to spend a day in the town of Banff and the rest of your vacation outdoors, immersing yourself in the mountains, especially if you’re an experienced skier or hiker.

National Park of Cape Breton Highlands

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:56:00 +0000

Location: Nova Scotia

Date Established: 1936

Size: 235,000 acres

Cape Breton Highlands National Park was the first national park designated in Atlantic Canada. The Cabot Trail, a world-famous scenic highway, runs along parts of the coastal borders on both sides of the park and crosses the highlands. Renowned for its hiking trails, the park is home to a diverse mix of boreal and temperate species not found elsewhere in Canada.

Park Facts

• Living History The human history of northern Cape Breton reaches back 10,000 years. The Mi’kmaq have lived here about 4,000 years. Portuguese, French, Scottish, Irish, and Dutch immigrants settled here from the 1400s onward, and there continues to be a rich cultural history in the region that is active and engaging.

• High and Low The park is often referred to as the place “where the mountains meet the sea.” The dominant feature of this region is the elevated plateau, divided by steep-walled river canyons; northern species and habitats on the plateaus coexist with the more temperate habitats and species of the lowlands. Consequently, there is much diversity.

• Boreal, Barrens, and Bogs Approximately 88 percent of the park is forested. The plateau, or upper reaches, is dominated by both boreal and taiga vegetation and is part of the worn-down Appalachian Mountain chain that stretches from Georgia to Newfoundland. The boreal land region of this plateau features large swaths of coniferous trees, sprinkled with barrens and wetlands. Most of the entire population of Nova Scotia’s endangered Canada lynx lives here, as well as moose, hare, grouse, and marten. The taiga land region of the plateau features a tundra-like landscape characterized by scrub forest, barrens, and bogs.

• Old Growth In the lowlands, the Acadian forest includes a mix of northern and temperate plants and animals. Most worthy of note are the old-growth stands—more than 350 years old—as well as some pure sugar-maple stands found only in the northern part of this species’ range.

• Water World The park and its treasures have been shaped by the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which flanks it on the westward side, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The shorelines range from rocky shores and dramatic headlands to cobbled and sandy beaches. A healthy marine food chain includes krill, lobster, and salmon. Minke whales, pilot whales, and harbour seals are frequently seen along the coast. Around 230 species of birds frequent various sections of the park, the most noticeable being bald eagles.

• Recreation The park has six campgrounds, 26 hiking trails, several beaches, and a world-class golf course. Bordering communities have seasonal amenities, recreational programs, and cultural activities.

How to Get There

Airports are located in Sydney in Cape Breton and in Halifax on mainland Nova Scotia. From Sydney, take Rte. 125 to Hwy. 105, then take the Cabot Trail at the Englishtown ferry or at St. Ann’s to Ingonish Beach. Driving time is two hours.

If driving from Halifax, take Hwy. 102 to Truro, then Hwy. 104 to the Canso Causeway that links mainland Nova Scotia to Cape Breton Island. Allow three hours to reach Cape Breton. At this point you need to decide which park entrance/visitor center you want to check into: Ingonish Beach or Chéticamp.

For the Ingonish Beach entrance, take Hwy. 105 to exit 11 at Southaven. Follow the Cabot Trail north to the visitor center. Driving time is two hours. Approaching the park from the west side, once you’ve crossed the Canso Causeway, follow Rte. 19 (the Ceilidh Trail) along the coast to Margaree Forks, then follow the Cabot Trail to Chéticamp. Allow two hours. The park entrance is ten minutes from Chéticamp.

When to Go

The park is open year-round. The best time to go will depend on your interests. Bird-watchers may prefer spring and early summer as there is less foliage and chances are better for spotting birds, although peak breeding activity is June through July.

Hiking is great from May to November, when the ground is usually snow free. Some people prefer to hike in the fall as there are no flies and fall foliage is spectacular. It’s also when the Celtic Colours International Festival takes place, which is a bonus.

The best time for cycling is summer and fall. Ocean temperatures warm up by July and start to cool off in September, so beach activities are best during the summer. Although there is limited infrastructure during the winter, snowshoeing and skiing in the park can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience; valleys and plateaus become veritable winter wonderlands.

How to Visit

The possibilities at Cape Breton Highlands are endless. You can be as busy or as laid-back as you please. The best place to start is at one of the visitor information centers located at either end of the park. The views and vistas are spectacular no matter where you enter the park.

National Park of Rocky Mountain

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:56:00 +0000

Location: Colorado
Established: January 26, 1915
Size: 265,873 acres (107,595 hectares)

Nowhere else in the United States can a visitor see so much alpine country with such ease. A mere two-hour drive from Denver, Trail Ridge Road takes visitors into the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park, traversing a ridge above 11,000 feet (3,353 meters) for 10 miles (16 kilometers). Along the way, tiny tundra flowers and other wild blooms contrast with sweeping vistas of towering summits; 78 of them exceed 12,000 feet (3,656 meters). Alpine lakes reflect the grandeur.

The summits form at least the third generation of mountains to rise in this region. The first probably protruded as islands above a shallow sea more than 135 million years ago, when dinosaurs reigned. Another range grew out of a later sea some 75 million years ago. Over the eons these summits eroded to rolling hills, which rose once again, although unevenly: Some portions sank along fault lines, helping create the striking texture of the current scenery.

Rock as old as that at the bottom of the Grand Canyon—nearly two billion years—caps the Rockies' summits. Within the last million years, glaciers, grinding boulders beneath them, carved deep canyons. Erosion later scoured the more jagged summits into their present profiles.

Rocky Mountain, though only about an eighth the size of Yellowstone, accommodates as many visitors—three million or so a year. Overcrowding worries park officials and conservationists, who cite distressed animals, trodden plants, and eroded trails. Condominium development is crowding the park's borders also, shrinking the habitats of elk and other wildlife and threatening to turn the park into an island of nature.

National Park of Redwood

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:56:00 +0000

Location: California
Established: October 2, 1968
Size: 131,983 acres (53,412 hectares)

Sometimes, when the morning fog caresses the great trees, you can imagine the past flowing through the long, misty shadows … Vast redwood forests flourishing across a lush and humid North America … After the final ice age, a last stand here in the sustaining climate along the Pacific coast … Tree after tree falling to the loggers. Then, in a windswept moment, the past vanishes and you stand beside other visitors, gazing up at the Earth's tallest living things. That is the essence of Redwood National and State Parks.

The park, near the northern limit of the coast redwood's narrow range, preserves the remnants of a forest that once covered two million acres (809,371 hectares) and, at the turn of the 20th century, was badly threatened by logging. The state of California and the Save-the-Redwoods League came to the rescue by acquiring hundreds of groves and protecting them within 26 state parks. Three redwood state parks—Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast, and Prairie Creek—were encompassed by the national park when it was created in 1968.

Logging on surrounding private land, however, threatened the parks' protected redwoods. Soil and sediments from the logged-over tracts washed into the rivers and creeks, settling to the bottom downstream. Silt deposits can smother redwoods—for the giants are amazingly vulnerable. And the waterlogged soil weakens the trees' resistance to wind. Their roots are shallow, often only ten feet (three meters) deep.

In 1978 Congress added 48,000 acres (19,425 hectares) to the national park's 58,000 acres (23,472 hectares), including about 36,000 (14,567 hectares) that had been logged. The raw, clear-cut land, a park official wrote, had "the look of an active war zone." Today, in an epic earth-moving project—a redwood renaissance—crews are beginning to reclaim vast stretches of logged-over lands. Hillsides, carved away for logging roads, are being restored. Most of the 400 miles (644 kilometers) of roads are being erased. It will take at least 50 years for the scars of logging to disappear and another 250 or so years for the replanted redwood seedlings to grow to modest size.

The renaissance has added a new dimension to the traditional rite of staring up at redwoods. Today's visitor can look at hillsides shorn of giants and know that generations from now the trees will grow there again.

National Park of Saguaro

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:55:00 +0000

Location: Arizona
Established: October 14, 1994
Size: 91,445 acres (37,006 hectares)

Symbol of the American Southwest and North America's largest cactus, the saguaro's imposing stature and uplifted arms give it a regal presence. Perhaps that's why this burly giant, whose only bits of exuberance are seasonal blossoms and fig-like fruits at the tip of its limbs, has been dubbed the "desert monarch."

Carnegiea gigantean is the trademark of the Sonoran Desert, whose basins and ranges rumple 120,000 square miles (310,800 square kilometers) of northwestern Mexico, southern Arizona, and southeastern California. Saguaro National Park is composed of two sections. The westerly Tucson Mountain District embraces about 24,000 acres (9,710 hectares) of the hotter, drier, less vegetated "low" Sonoran ecosystem, which occurs at an elevation around 3,000 feet (914 meters). Thirty miles (48 kilometers) east, on the other side of Tucson's urban sprawl, is the 67,000-acre (27,114-hectare) Rincon Mountain District, which occupies loftier ground and has a cooler, slightly wetter "high desert" environment. Most of it is inaccessible except by foot or on horseback. Here the terrain inclines from saguaro forests into nearly pristine woodlands of oak and pine. Hikers pressing on to higher elevations find Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, and solitude.

The Sonoran Desert's extreme temperatures, perennial drought, frequent lightning, banshee winds, and voracious predators keep the saguaro forever at the limit of its endurance. Odds against survival rival a lottery: Though the cactus annually produces tens of thousands of pinhead-size seeds—some 40 million over a life that may last two centuries—few ever even sprout. Even fewer seedlings achieve the grandeur of towering 50 feet (15 meters) and weighing up to 16,000 pounds (7,258 kilograms).

Though the saguaro may be the park's centerpiece, after wet winters the spring wildflower display can be breathtaking. The brilliant gold of the Mexican poppy is often the first-noticed bloom, while penstemons, lupines, desert marigolds, brittlebushes, and globe mallows contribute their lively colors of red, lilac, blue, and yellow. Many trees, shrubs, and cactuses also bloom, including creosote bushes, paloverdes, ocotillos, chollas, and hedgehogs. Saguaros bloom in late spring.

National Park of Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:50:00 +0000

Banff

Cape Breton

Forillon

Fundy

Georgian Bay Islands

Gros Morne

Gulf Islands

Jasper

Mingan Archipelago

Nahanni

Pacific Rim

Prince Albert

Prince Edward Island

Sirmilik

St. Lawrence Islands

Vuntut

Wapusk

Waterton Lakes

Wood Buffalo

Yoho

National Park of Prince Edward

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:45:00 +0000

Location: Prince Edward Island

Date Established: 1937

Size: 5,440 acres

Prince Edward Island National Park spans a spectacular stretch of land encompassing sand dunes, salt marshes, remnants of an Acadian forest, coastal headlands, beaches, and sandstone cliffs. This is the land that inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and prompted an oil tycoon to build an elegant Victorian home. Both Green Gables and Dalvay-by-the Sea are national treasures and showcased within the park.

Park Facts

• Rocky Past Approximately 285 million years ago, a mountain chain existed in this region. Over time, its rivers deposited gravel, silt, and sand into a low-lying basin, forming sandstone bedrock. As the glaciers retreated, Prince Edward Island gradually took shape.

• Scope for Imagination Situated on the central north shore of Prince Edward Island, the park faces the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where sunsets are storybook perfect. Although one of the smallest parks in Canada, it’s a popular destination, with famous beaches and outstanding coastal landscapes. Many visitors are drawn to the area for its setting of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved 1908 novel,Anne of Green Gables.

• Island Life The park’s ecosystems support a variety of animal species and 400 different species of plants. Although there are no deer or moose on the island, coyotes, red foxes, raccoons, beavers, mink, and weasels are common. With more than 300 species of birds, including the endangered piping plover, the park plays a significant role in shorebird migration in spring and fall.

• Deep Roots In 1998, the park expanded to include 990 acres on the Greenwich Peninsula, where rare, u-shaped dunes—known as parabolic dunes—are located. This is also the region where archaeological digs revealed that Paleo-Indians lived here 10,000 years ago. Evidence indicates that the Mi’kmaq, French, Acadians, Scots, Irish, and English were also early settlers here.

• Local Color The park is bordered by a number of traditional farming and fishing communities, which adds to the cultural fabric of the island and enhances the visitor’s experience.

How to Get There

A number of airlines fly into Charlottetown, the island’s capital. Direct service is available from Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa, with seasonal direct service from Boston, Detroit, and New York. Connecting service is available every day from Halifax International Airport.

If you are driving, there are two ways to approach the island. One is to take the eight-mile bridge—the longest bridge over ice-covered water in the world—from Cape Jourimain in New Brunswick to Borden-Carleton on Prince Edward Island. The other is to board Northumberland Ferries (www.peiferry.com) for a 75-minute sail from Caribou, Nova Scotia, over to Wood Islands.

When to Go

Beach lovers and families will want to visit during July and August, when daytime temperatures range from 64º to 75ºF and nights are warm. Park activities run full tilt during the operational season (late June to September).

If you prefer solitude, spring and fall are the best seasons for hiking, kayaking, cycling, and bird-watching. Average daytime temperatures in both spring and fall range from 48º to 64ºF during the day and 41º to 50ºF at night. The fall tends to be balmy and quite warm until mid-October.

Birders have lots to observe in the park year-round; highlights include migration and nesting seasons. Seasonal dates determined by the migratory habits of most birds are: mid-March to late May (northerly migration), early June to mid-August (nesting season), and mid-August to mid-December (southerly migration).

If you are interested in adding culinary travel to your park experience, the island hops with a special food festival called Fall Flavours during the month of September. The annual Fall Frolic hosted by the Parks and People Association features pumpkin carving and is fun for all ages.

During the winter, many trails are kept open and maintained. A pair of skis or snowshoes is all you will need to disappear into a unique wonderland. Access to facilities such as washrooms and visitor services may be limited outside the summer season.

How to Visit

There are three distinct segments of the park: Cavendish, Brackley-Dalvay, and Greenwich, each with its own unique characteristics. You’ll need a vehicle to get from one to another. Once you have arrived, however, the best way to enjoy the park is by foot or bike.

Visitors to the Cavendish and Brackley-Dalvay sectors of the park will find supervised beaches, campgrounds, and a number of trails of easy to moderate difficulty adapted to both hiking and cycling.

Both Cavendish and Stanhope have full-service campgrounds; organized groups can contact the park to arrange for group camping at a unique campsite and day-use area. There is no camping offered at Greenwich, but private accommodations are located close by and it’s only a 30- to 40-minute drive to Stanhope or Brackley. Natural and cultural history really come alive at evening campfire activities held at Cavendish and Stanhope Campgrounds, where interpreters present the park’s heritage through storytelling and skits with the aid of costumes and music.

Along with your camp gear, consider bringing a kite. With all the wide-open spaces and gentle breezes, kite flying is a snap. Field glasses are also a good thing to have along, as there’s always something that you’ll want to see up close and personal. Tracking animals is especially fun.

In-park interpretive activities such as guided walks, geocaching programs, and evening campfire presentations are listed in the visitor guide and posted throughout the park during the summer peak season. All activities are presented in both French and English and are delivered by experienced and engaging interpreters. Programs and activities change on a daily basis.

The key is to talk with park personnel. Find one of the many uniformed staff persons and ask for suggestions of things to do and places to go. They always have great ideas. Don’t be surprised if one of the staff invites you to come along and see a hidden treasure or shares with you a favorite place. Known to be friendly, islanders are also a good source of information.

Guided walks along trails in Cavendish and Greenwich are always a big hit. The focus is usually on wildlife, ecology, and other natural features of protected coastal areas, as well as the rich cultural history of Prince Edward Island’s north shore.

Interpretive signage throughout the park enhances self-guided hikes and provides insights into the natural and cultural significance of each area.

National Park of Forillon

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:45:00 +0000

Location: Quebec

Date Established: 1970

Size: 59,305 acres

Depending on your perspective, Forillon marks either the beginning or the end of the Canadian portion of the International Appalachian Trail. Much of the park is pure mountain wilderness, with remarkable hiking trails that skirt seaside cliff edges. It also boasts a cluster of traditional Gaspé fishing villages, pebble beaches in quiet coves, and rugged cliffs looming along a coastline that wraps around two of the triangular park’s three sides. At its northeastern tip, the park pokes into the Gulf of St. Lawrence via a peninsula topped by a lighthouse.

Park Facts

• Peculiar Petals Forillon National Park protects a range of varied little ecosystems: natural prairies and farm fields, seaside cliffs, rivers, lakes, marshes, the seashore itself, and forest. Virtually all the park is covered with forests that shelter a peculiar combination of some 700 kinds of local flora along with plants normally found in Arctic or alpine environments, such as purple mountain saxifrage, tufted saxifrage, and white dryad.

• Early Industry Historically, this resource-rich area of Quebec was also exploited for its supply of wood. People living off the coast in the village of L’Anse-au-Griffon, on the park’s northwest side, were involved in the early lumber industry here. Sawmills turned out planks, beams, cedar shingles, barrel staves, and even timbers to build wharves and bridges.

• For the Birds Wildlife spotters on the prowl in the park can look for moose, black bears, lynx, red foxes, beavers, porcupines, coyotes, snowshoe hares, mink, and ermine. Bird watchers are drawn by 225 known species. Along the cliffs, perfect for breeding, seabirds such as black-legged kittiwakes, double-crested cormorants, black guillemots, and razorbills are plentiful. Great blue herons, terns, gulls, and sandpipers inhabit shorelines, and more than two dozen inland raptor species include northern harriers, American kestrel, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and great horned owls.

How to Get There

Fly into Quebec City from any major North American city, then make the ten-hour drive on Trans-Canada 20 from Quebec City to the park. The magnificent route follows the south side of the vast mouth of the St. Lawrence River, skirting the northern edges of the Gaspé Peninsula and passing through its small towns and villages. Stop in the city of Rimouski about halfway to the park, or shorten the drive by flying from Quebec City into Rimouski and renting a car there.

A quicker alternative is to fly from Quebec City or Montreal to the town of Gaspé. From there, the park lies just 18.6 miles away on Hwy. 132, an extremely pretty coastal drive. You can also reach the park by train. The Montreal–Gaspé Chaleur route operated by VIA Rail runs along the Bay of Chaleur on the south side of the Gaspé Peninsula.

When to Go

Summer’s the season that really shines in Forillon. The coastal scenery is at its finest, wildflowers bloom almost frantically, beaches are easily accessible, and trails are at their peak of natural beauty. But there is plenty to do in winter too. There are a half dozen cross-country ski trails (trailheads start at the Le Portage parking area near Penouille, La Vallée parking area at L’Anse-au-Griffon, and Le Castor parking area near Cap-des-Rosiers), three off-trail ski areas, and a half dozen snow-shoeing trails with equipment for rent at the Penouille Visitor Centre.

How to Visit

As the Québécois would say, the de rigueur exploration of this varied landscape involves rambling the coast by car, exploring a few beaches on foot, and doing a little sea kayaking or whale-watching on the first day. On the second day, check out the Hyman & Sons General Store, populated by character actors, and the restored homestead and farm of Anse-Blanchette, which are virtually all that remain of the old fishing village of Grande-Grave. Take the late afternoon and evening to spend time in nearby Gaspé, where more than three dozen small hotels and B&Bs can provide cozy, lacy Québécois-style beds. Explore the restaurants in town, which also has a few interesting local museums.

If there’s time for a third day, fill up the backpack with the day’s necessities and squeeze in some wilderness hiking. Or do like the locals do and go for a picnic along the rugged cliffs. Spend some time ranging along the round-pebble beaches, or climb the Cap Gaspé lighthouse for the towering sea view. The lighthouse is just 43 feet high, but it squats on the edge of an impressive 312-foot cliff.

National Park of Olympic

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:32:00 +0000

Location: Washington
Established: June 29, 1938
Size: 922,000 acres (373,120 hectares)

Encompassing 1,441 square miles (3,732 square kilometers) of the Olympic Peninsula, Olympic National Park invites visitors to explore three distinct ecosystems: subalpine forest and wildflower meadow; temperate forest; and the rugged Pacific shore. Because of the park's relatively unspoiled condition and outstanding scenery, the United Nations has declared Olympic both an international biosphere reserve and a World Heritage site.

Inside the park, the Olympic mountain range is nearly circular, contoured by 13 rivers that radiate out like the spokes of a wheel. No road traverses the park, but a dozen spur roads lead into it from US 101, making it easily accessible from outside the park.

Residents of the Olympic Peninsula refer to it as a gift from the sea, and its features were indeed shaped by water and ice. The rock of the Olympics developed under the ocean—marine fossils are embedded in the mountain summits. Another component, basalt, originated from undersea lava vents. About 30 million years ago, the plate carrying the Pacific Ocean floor collided with the plate supporting the North American continent. As the heavy oceanic plate slid beneath the lighter continental plate, the upper layers of seabed jammed against the coastline, crumpling into what would become the Olympic Mountains. Glaciers and streams sculptured the mountains into their current profiles.

Glaciers nearly one mile (1.6 kilometers) thick also gouged out Puget Sound and Hood Canal to the east, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north, isolating the peninsula from the mainland.

Ice Age isolation led to the 15 animals and 8 plants that evolved nowhere else on Earth, including the Olympic mountain milkvetch, Olympic marmot, Olympic Mazama pocket gopher, and Olympic mud minnow.

There are also the 11 mammals common in the nearby Cascades and Rockies that either died out in the Olympics or never found their way into the peninsula. The missing include the grizzly bear, lynx, and mountain sheep.

The mountain goats found here are non-native. They were introduced in the 1920s before the park was established. The goats so damaged Olympic's alpine meadows in 1988 the park staff began efforts to manage the population that had grown to over 1,000.

Moist winds from the Pacific condense in the cool air of the Olympics and drop rain or snow, bestowing on the mountains' western slopes the wettest climate in the lower 48 states. Mount Olympus, which crowns the park at 7,980 feet (2,432 meters), receives 200 inches (508 centimeters) of precipitation a year.

National Park of Petrified Forest

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:25:00 +0000

Location: Arizona
Established: December 9, 1962
Size: 93,533 acres (37,851 hectares)

A sun-swept corner of the Painted Desert draws more than 600,000 visitors each year. While most come to see one of the world's largest concentrations of brilliantly colored petrified wood, many leave having glimpsed something more. The current 147 square miles (381 square kilometers) of Petrified Forest open a window on an environment more than 200 million years old, one radically different from today's grassland.

Where you now see ravens soaring over a stark landscape, leathery-winged pterosaurs once glided over rivers teeming with armor-scaled fish and giant, spatula-headed amphibians. Nearby ran herds of some of the earliest dinosaurs. Scientists have identified several hundred species of fossil plants and animals in Petrified Forest.

The park consists of two main sections, and recent legislation has authorized doubling the land area to 218,533 acres (88,437 hectares). Located in the south are the major concentrations of the famous colorful petrified wood; in the north rise the colorful banded badlands of the Painted Desert. Giant fossilized logs, many of them fractured into cord-wood-size segments, lie scattered throughout, like headstones bearing a deceased's likeness.

Much of the quartz that replaced the wood tissue 200 million years ago is tinted in rainbow hues. Many visitors cannot resist taking rocks, despite strict regulations and stiff fines against removing any material. To see if the petrified wood was actually disappearing at an alarming rate, resource managers established survey plots with a specific number of pieces of wood; some were nearly barren in less than a week.

The problem is not new. Military survey parties passing through the region in the 1850s filled their saddlebags with the petrified wood. As word of these remarkable deposits spread, fossil logs were hauled off by the wagonload for tabletops, lamps, and mantels. In the 1890s gem collectors began dynamiting logs searching for amethyst and quartz crystals. To prevent further destruction of its unique bounty, the area was designated a national monument in 1906 and a national park more than a half century later.

National Park of North Cascades

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:25:00 +0000

Location: Washington
Established: October 2, 1968
Size: 684,000 acres (276,805 hectares)

With glacier-clad peaks rising almost vertically from thickly forested valleys, the North Cascades are often called the American Alps. The national park forms one unit of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. The two other units—Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area—contain most visitor facilities.

The park complex preserves virgin forests, fragile subalpine meadows, and hundreds of glaciers. Mule deer and black-tailed deer graze the high meadows, where black bears gorge on berries and hoary marmots sunbathe. Mountain goats clamber on rock faces. Mountain lions and bobcats, seldom seen, help keep other wildlife populations in balance.

The wildness and ruggedness of the park especially lure hikers, backpackers, and mountaineers. "A more difficult route to travel never fell to man's lot," complained trapper Alexander Ross, who came here in 1814. But today the main road (through Ross Lake NRA) and easy access into the park—on some of its nearly 400 miles (644 kilometers) of trails—also allow more casual visitors to experience the peaceful forests and the drama of the mountains.

The region forms part of the Cascade Range, named for its innumerable waterfalls. The range extends from British Columbia to northern California. A geological theory proposes that the mountains began as a micro-continent several hundred miles out in the Pacific Ocean. Over the eons a series of islands floated on their plate toward North America. About a hundred million years ago, the plate smashed into the North American continent, folding and crumpling into a mountain range as it lodged against the landmass. Those mountains eroded; the Cascades you see today rose only five or six million years ago.

The western part of the park differs markedly from the east. Moisture blows in from Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It hits the western slopes and rises, condensing to rain and snow. Western red cedars, hemlocks, and Douglas firs luxuriate on slopes that receive 110 inches (279 centimeters) of precipitation a year. When the winds reach the east, they are mostly wrung dry: Only 35 inches (89 centimeters) of precipitation fall in Stehekin at the head of Lake Chelan. Arid-dwelling sagebrush and ponderosa pine grow in the peaks' rain shadow.

National Park of Mesa Verde

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:19:00 +0000

Location: Colorado
Established: June 29, 1906
Size: 52,074 acres (21,074 hectares)

At Mesa Verde, Spanish for "green table," multistoried dwellings fill the cliff-rock alcoves that rise 2,000 feet (610 meters) above Montezuma Valley. Remarkably preserved, the cliff dwellings cluster in canyons that slice the mesa into narrow tablelands. Here, and on the mesa top, archaeologists have located more than 4,800 archaeological sites (including 600 cliff dwellings) dating from about A.D. 550 to 1300.

The sites, from mesa-top pithouses and multistoried dwellings to cliffside villages, document the changes in the lives of a prehistoric people once dubbed the Anasazi. They are now more accurately called the ancestral Puebloans, and modern Pueblo tribes in the Southwest consider themselves descendants of these ancestral people. Some 40 pueblos and cliff dwellings are visible from park roads and overlooks; some of these are open to the public.

Beginning about A.D. 750, the ancestral Puebloans grouped their mesa-top dwellings in pueblos, or villages. About 1200 they moved into recesses in the cliffs. So sheltered, these later villages seem to stand outside of time, aloof to the present.

In 1888 two cowboys tracking stray cattle in a snowstorm stopped on the edge of a steep-walled canyon. Through the flakes they made out traces of walls and towers of a large cliff dwelling across the canyon. Novelist Willa Cather later described the scene: "The falling snowflakes sprinkling the piñons, gave it a special kind of solemnity. It was more like sculpture than anything else … preserved … like a fly in amber."

Climbing down a makeshift ladder, the excited cowboys explored the honeycombed network of rooms that they named Cliff Palace. Inside, they found stone tools, pottery, and other artifacts in rooms that had been uninhabited for some 600 years.

Why the Mesa Verde people eventually left their homes may never be known. Indeed, they lived in the cliff dwellings for only about the last 75 to 100 years of their occupation of Mesa Verde. Early archaeologists guessed warfare, and the evidence for this seems to concur. Archaeologists also think they may have been victims of their own success. Their productive dry farming allowed the Mesa Verde population to grow perhaps as high as 5,000. Gradually woodlands were cut, wild game hunted out, and soils depleted. Years of drought and poor crops may have been aggravated by village squabbles. By the end of the 13th century the ancestral Puebloans had left the plateau, never to return.

National Park of Mount Rainier

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:18:00 +0000

Location: Washington
Established: March 2, 1899
Size: 235,625 acres (93,354 hectares)

One of the world's most massive volcanoes, Mount Rainier can dominate the skyline for 100 miles (161 kilometers) before you reach the park named after it. At nearly three miles (4.8 kilometers) in height, Mount Rainier is the tallest peak in the Cascade Range; it dwarfs 6,000-foot (1,829-meter) surrounding summits, appearing to float alone among the clouds.

Mount Rainier may be the centerpiece of the national park, but it is hardly the only attraction. Here, less than three hours' drive from Seattle, you can stroll through seemingly endless fields of wildflowers, listen for cracking glacier debris, wander among trees more than a thousand years old. The park's convenient location, however, also leads to weekend traffic jams, both summer and winter, and guarantees you company on popular trails.

Mount Rainier is the offspring of fire and ice. Still active, it was probably born more than a half million years ago, on a base of lava spewed out by previous volcanoes. Lava and ash surged out of the young volcano's vent thousands of times, filling the neighboring canyons and building up a summit cone, layer by layer, to a height of some 16,000 feet (4,877 meters).

Even while Mount Rainier was growing, glaciers carved valleys on and around the mountain. The 25 major glaciers here form the largest collection of permanent ice on a single U.S. peak south of Alaska.

Mount Rainier's summit deteriorated over time, but eruptions in the last 2,000 years rebuilt it to its current height of 14,410 feet (4,392 meters). The mountain last erupted about a century ago.

National Park of Mammoth Cave

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Location: Kentucky
Established: July 1, 1941
Size: 52,830 acres (21,340 hectares)

Under a swath of Kentucky hills and hollows is a limestone labyrinth that became the heartland of a national park. The surface of Mammoth Cave National Park encompasses about 80 square miles (210 square kilometers). No one knows how big the underside is. More than 365 miles (587 kilometers) of the five-level cave system have been mapped, and new caves are continually being discovered. Two layers of stone underlie Mammoth's hilly woodlands.

A sandstone and shale cap, as thick as 50 feet (15 meters) in places, acts as an umbrella over limestone ridges. The umbrella leaks at places called sinkholes, from which surface water makes its way underground, eroding the limestone into a honeycomb of caverns.

Mammoth, the world's longest known cave system, a United Nations World Heritage site and the core area of an international biosphere reserve, still is as "grand, gloomy, and peculiar" as it was when Stephen Bishop, a young slave and early guide, described it. By a flickering lard-oil lamp he found and mapped some of Mammoth's passages. Bishop died in 1857. His grave, like his life, is part of Mammoth; it lies in the Old Guide's Cemetery near the entrance.

Most visitors see the eerie beauty of the caverns on some of the 10 miles (16 kilometers) of passages available for tours. Rangers dispense geological lore and tell tales about real and imagined happenings 200 or 300 feet (60 or 90 meters) down. The tours are hikes inside the Earth; uphill stretches can be hard going for some visitors. Few seem frightened; people terrified by darkness or tight spots naturally avoid caves. Rangers say they rarely have problems guiding the 380,000 men, women, and children who venture below yearly.

Mammoth does not glamorize the underworld with garish lighting. You never forget that you are deep in the Earth. And nowhere else can you get a better lesson in the totality of darkness and the miracle of light. Usually on a tour a ranger gathers everyone and, after a warning, switches off the lights. The darkness is sudden, absolute. Then the ranger lights a match and the tiny dot of light magically spreads, illuminating a circle of astonished faces.

National Park of Kobuk Valley

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:54:00 +0000

Location: Alaska
Established: December 2, 1980
Size: 1,750,000 acres (708,200 hectares)

"Now we were alone between fringes of spruce by a clear stream where tundra went up the sides of mountains," wrote John McPhee in Coming into the Country. The Kobuk Valley, said McPhee, "was, in all likelihood, the most isolated wilderness I would ever see." Located entirely above the Arctic Circle, Kobuk Valley has fewer tourist visits than any other national park. Float a river here in late August and the only other humans you're likely to encounter are Inupiat hunting the caribou that migrate through each year.

Thirteen thousand years ago, when continental glaciers covered much of North America and a land bridge connected Alaska and Asia, Kobuk Valley was an ice-free refuge with grassy tundra similar to that found in Siberia today. Bison, mastodons, and mammoths roamed the valley, along with the humans who hunted them. Since then, the climate has shifted, and sea level has risen to flood the land bridge; many of the early mammals have disappeared. But today's shrubby flora harbors relicts of the preglacial steppe, and in the cold, hard ground lie the legacies of ancient animals and peoples.

Here the Kobuk Valley, cordoned off by the Baird and Waring Mountains, protects the midsection of the Kobuk River, the drainage of the Wild and Scenic Salmon River, and an array of wildlife. This is where the boreal forest reaches its northern limit, and the North American and Asiatic flyways cross. Pockets of tundra blend into birch and spruce, dwarfed by blasts of freezing air. And along the Kobuk River stretch 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) of active sand dunes, where summer temperatures can climb to 100°F (38°C).

Kobuk Valley National Park's management plan encourages traditional native subsistence practices over tourism, so no facilities or trails lie within the park.

National Park of Lassen Volcanic

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:53:00 +0000

Location: California
Established: August 9, 1916
Size: 106,372 acres (43,047 hectares)

On June 14, 1914, three men climbed Lassen Peak to see why a seemingly dormant volcano had started rumbling 16 days before. Now, peering into a newborn crater, they felt the ground tremble. As they turned and ran down the steep slope, the mountain erupted. Rocks hurtled through the ash-filled air. One struck a man, knocking him out. Ashes rained down on the men. They seemed doomed. But the eruption stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and the three men survived.

From 1914 to early 1915, Lassen spewed steam and ashes in more than 150 eruptions. Finally, on May 19, 1915, the mountaintop exploded. Lava crashed through the 1914 crater. A 20-foot-high (6-meter-high) wall of mud, ash, and melted snow roared down the mountain, snapping tree trunks. Three days later, a huge mass of ashes and gases shot out of the volcano, devastating a swath a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide and three miles (five kilometers) long. Above the havoc a cloud of volcanic steam and ash rose 30,000 feet (9,150 meters).

Eruptions of steam, ash, and tephra continued until June 1917, when the volcano resumed its quiet profile, with minor steam clouds occasionally reported. Since 1921 Lassen Peak has remained quiet. But it is still considered an active volcano, the centerpiece of a vast panorama, where volcanism displays its spectaculars—wrecked mountains, devastated land, bubbling cauldrons of mud. Until Mount St. Helens blew in 1980, Lassen's eruption was the most recent volcanic explosion in the lower 48 states. Ecologists now study Lassen's landscape to see what the future may bring to the terrain around St. Helens.

National Park of Lake Clark

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:52:00 +0000

Alaska
Established December 2, 1980
4,045,000 acres (1,636,953 hectares)

"Think of all the splendors that bespeak Alaska," conservationist John Kauffmann has written. "Glaciers, volcanoes, alpine spires, wild rivers, lakes with grayling on the rise. Picture coasts feathered with countless seabirds. Imagine dense forests and far-sweeping tundra, herds of caribou, great roving bears. Now concentrate all these and more into less than one percent of the state—and behold the Lake Clark region, Alaska's epitome."

Diversity is Lake Clark's hallmark. The Turquoise-Telaquana Plateau has tundra similar to Alaska's North Slope, while the coast has forests similar to the southeast panhandle. Black bears and Dall's sheep reach their southern limits here, and Sitka spruce, Alaska's state tree, reaches its northern limit. Three rivers—the Mulchatna, Chilikadrotna, and Tlikakila—have been officially designated part of the Wild and Scenic system.

The Chigmit Mountains, spine of the park, are as rugged as mountains get. They lie on the edge of the North American plate where the oceanic plate slides under it, and their jumbled contours reflect centuries of geological violence. Two volcanoes here, Iliamna and Redoubt, are still active and vent gases regularly. Redoubt erupted in 1966, spewing clouds of ash 40,000 feet (12,200 meters) into the air—and it erupted dramatically again in late 1989 and early 1990. The area averages one to two earthquakes per year that register at least a 5 on the Richter scale.

Archaeological finds show that humans, most recently Dena'ina Indians, have lived in the area for centuries. The abundant salmon and game made their settled existence possible.

National Park of Kenai Fjords

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:51:00 +0000

Location: Alaska
Established: December 2, 1980
Size: 607,000 acres (245,644 hectares)

Distill the essence of coastal Alaska into one place—wild, dynamic, and scenic, rich with the signatures of glaciers, light with the marks of people, unforgiving in stormy seas, unforgettable in warm sunshine—and you have Kenai Fjords, the smallest national park in Alaska. Here the south-central part of the state tumbles into the Gulf of Alaska; here the land challenges the sea with talonlike peninsulas and rocky headlands, while the sea itself reaches inland with long fjords and hundreds of quiet bays and coves.

The Harding Icefield is the park's crown jewel, almost 700 square miles (1,813 square kilometers) of ice up to a mile (1.6 kilometers) thick. It feeds nearly three dozen glaciers flowing out of the mountains, six of them to tidewater. The Harding Icefield is a vestige of the massive ice sheet that covered much of Alaska in the Pleistocene era.

The ancient ice gouged out Kenai's fjords, creating habitats for throngs of sea animals. About 20 species of seabirds nest along the rocky coastline; the most charismatic of the birds are clown-faced puffins. Bald eagles swoop along the towering cliffs, and peregrine falcons hunt over the outer islands. Seabirds, by the tens of thousands, migrate or congregate here.

Approximately 23 species of mammals, including harbor seals, northern sea lions, and sea otters, live here. Moose, black bears, wolverines, lynx, and marten roam narrow bands of forest between the coast and icefield. And just above them, on the treeless slopes, climb surefooted mountain goats.

National Park of Isle Royale

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:46:00 +0000

Location: Michigan
Established: April 3, 1940
Size: 571,790 acres (231,395 hectares)

Out of the vastness of Lake Superior rises an island known more for its immigrant wolves and moose than for its splendors as a park. But the people who discover Isle Royale treat this isolated realm like no other park: Isle Royale visitors typically stay there 3.5 days, while the average visit to a national park is about 4 hours.

Most people get to the 45-mile-long (72-kilometer-long) island aboard a commercial or Park Service boat. As soon as they touch land in this wilderness park, they are on their own. They must pack in what they need and carry out their refuse.

This is rough, untamed country. Waterways may be fogbound and trails muddy. Blackflies and mosquitoes may descend upon hikers in swarms. And, because campsites cannot be reserved, a backpacker is never certain where the day's trek may end.

"It's not like deciding to drive into Yellowstone, see Old Faithful, and drive out," a ranger says. In an entire year Isle Royale gets fewer people than Yellowstone sees in a day.

Everyone who lands on Isle Royale—even day-trippers—must stop near dockside to hear a ranger talk about low-impact hiking and camping. For example, water must be boiled for two minutes or filtered; chemical purifiers will not wipe out tapeworm cysts.

Human hikers share trails with wolves and moose. They are descendants of the mainlanders that made Isle Royale an unexpected ark—moose presumably by swimming to it in the early 1900s; wolves likely by walking across the frozen lake between 1945 and 1950. Scientists have been studying the interplay of predator and prey since 1958.

On the trails, all you can expect to see are the animals' tracks and droppings, although quietly grazing moose do surprise hikers, particularly in swamps or dense forest. On beaver ponds you may spot the rippling Vs of the ponds' creators. At campsites watch for foxes looking for a hand-out. Remember: Feeding the animals is illegal. It is not healthy for them and increases the likelihood that they will scavenge for people's food and damage equipment.

National Park of Katmai

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:45:00 +0000

Location: Alaska
Established: December 2, 1980
Size: 4,725,188 acres (1,912,216 hectares)

Volcanoes and bears—powerful, unpredictable, and awe inspiring—embody the wild heart of Katmai. Within the borders of the national park and preserve are 15 volcanoes, some of them still steaming, and North America's largest population of protected brown bears—about 2,000 of them.

You can hike, kayak, and canoe here. You can fish waist-deep in rivers as clear as glass. And you can watch the best fish catcher of all, the great Alaskan brown bear, sometimes diving completely under the water for its prey, sometimes catching fish in midair. At the end of the day you can relax in a rustic yet sumptuous lodge on the shore of a sapphire lake and recount the day's enchantments.

In 1912 a volcano here erupted with a force ten times that of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Suddenly news of Katmai, a place hardly anyone had heard of, was on front pages around the world. Ash filled the air, global temperatures cooled, acid rain burned clothing off lines in Vancouver, British Columbia, and on Kodiak Island, just across Shelikof Strait from Katmai, day became night.

Leading a 1916 expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society, botanist Robert Griggs ascended Katmai Pass from Shelikof Strait. "The whole valley as far as the eye could reach was full of hundreds, no thousands—literally, tens of thousands—of smokes curling up from its fissured floor," he wrote. The smokes were fumaroles steaming 500 to 1,000 feet (150 to 300 meters) into the air. Griggs, who named the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, spearheaded the campaign to include Katmai in the National Park System.

Today, the smokes are gone from the valley. But steam vents still appear elsewhere in the park.

National Park of Joshua Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:45:00 +0000

Location: California
Established: October 31, 1994
Size: 794,000 acres (303,110 hectares)

Two desert systems, the Mojave and the Colorado, abut within Joshua Tree, dividing California's southernmost national park into two arid ecosystems of profoundly contrasting appearance. The key to their differences is elevation.

The Colorado, the western reach of the vast Sonoran Desert, thrives below 3,000 feet (914 meters) on the park's gently declining eastern flank, where temperatures are usually higher. Considered "low desert," compared to the loftier, wetter, and more vegetated Mojave "high desert," the Colorado seems sparse and forbidding. It begins at the park's midsection, sweeping east across empty basins stubbled with creosote bushes. Occasionally decorated by "gardens" of flowering ocotillo and cholla cactus, it runs across arid Pinto Basin into a parched wilderness of broken rock in the Eagle and Coxcomb Mountains.

Many newcomers among the 1.3 million visitors who pass through each year are surprised by the abrupt transition between the Colorado and Mojave ecosystems. Above 3,000 feet, the Mojave section claims the park's western half, where giant branching yuccas thrive on sandy plains studded by massive granite monoliths and rock piles. These are among the most intriguing and photogenic geological phenomena found in California's many desert regions.

Joshua Tree's human history commenced sometime after the last ice age with the arrival of the Pinto people, hunter-gatherers who may have been part of the Southwest's earliest cultures. They lived in Pinto Basin, which though inhospitably arid today, had a wet climate and was crossed by a sluggish river some 5,000 to 7,000 years ago. Nomadic groups of Indians seasonally inhabited the region when harvests of pinyon nuts, mesquite beans, acorns, and cactus fruit offered sustenance. Bedrock mortars—holes ground into solid rock and used to pulverize seeds during food preparation—are scattered throughout the Wonderland of Rocks area south of the Indian Cove camping site.

A flurry of late 19th-century gold-mining ventures left ruins; some are accessible by hiking trails, or unmaintained roads suited only to four-wheel-drive vehicles and mountain bikes.

National Park of Hawaii Volcanoes

noreply@blogger.com (Buzz) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:42:00 +0000

Location: Hawaii
Established: August 1, 1916
Size: 333,000 acres (134,760 hectares)

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, on the "Big Island" of Hawai'i, offers the visitor a look at two of the world's most active volcanoes: Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.

More than 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) high and still growing, Kīlauea abuts the southeastern slope of the older and much larger Mauna Loa, or "long mountain." Mauna Loa towers some 13,679 feet (4,169 meters) above the sea: Measured from its base 18,000 feet (5,486 meters) below sea level, it exceeds Mount Everest in height. Mauna Loa's gently sloping bulk—some 19,000 cubic miles (79,200 cubic kilometers) in volume—makes it the planet's most massive single mountain.

The park stretches from sea level to Mauna Loa's summit. Beyond the end of the road lies Mauna Loa's wilderness area, where backpackers encounter freezing nights and rough lava trails amid volcanic wonders: barren lava twisted into nightmarish shapes, cinder cones, gaping pits. Kīlauea, however, provides easy access to a greater variety of scenery and cultural sites.

On the slopes of Kīlauea, whose name means "spreading, much spewing," lush green rain forest borders stark, recent lava flows. This natural laboratory of ecological change displays all stages of forest regeneration—from early regrowth of lichens and ferns to dense forest. The rain forest on the windward side of Kīlauea's summit gives way to the stark, windswept Ka'ī Desert on the hot, dry southwestern slope. At the shore, waves create lines of jagged cliffs; periodic eruptions send fresh lava flows to meet the sea amid colossal clouds of steam.

Geological dynamism forms the park's primary natural theme, followed closely by evolutionary biology. Thousands of unique species have evolved on the isolated Hawaiian islands. Cultural sites abound as well, reminders of the Polynesian pioneers who steered their great double-hulled canoes to Hawai'i beginning some 1,500 years ago.

The United Nations has named the park both an international biosphere reserve and a World Heritage site. Many of the park's intriguing native plants and animals, however, are in peril, defenseless against alien species including weedy invasive plants and feral pigs.