Glacier National Park, Montana, was established in 1910, has been called the “Crown of the Continent.” It is home to some of the last remaining glaciers along the continental divide in the lower 48 states and a spectacular arrangement of glacier-carved peaks, turquoise lakes and diverse wildlife. Glacier is paired with Waterton Lakes National Park, […]
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Category: Natural Beauty
Chiricahua
Chiricahua protects the amazing array of vertical rock formations formed by ancient volcanic activity and eons of erosion in southeast Arizona. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Visit I visited Chiricahua during October when I had an afternoon free during a trip to Tucson. Our Weather Clear with […]
Shenandoah
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, protects a long, narrow strip of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Unlike most parks, Shenandoah’s land was mostly settled, and a significant portion of it was deforested before the state of Virginia began to piece the park together. The park was established in December 1935, and since then, most of the forest […]
Rocky Mountain
Declared a National Park in 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, is home to hundreds of peaks more than 10,000 feet tall including the 14,255 ft Longs Peak, one of Colorado’s tallest. More than that, the boundaries of Rocky Mountain NP encompass an entire set of mountain ecosystems and the wildlife which make them unique. […]
Pinnacles
Pinnacles National Park, California, is located just east of US 101 about 70 miles southeast of San Jose, CA. It is home to large formations of ancient volcanic spires in a very out-of-place setting among the rolling golden hills of central California. While it’s one of the oldest National Park lands, having been declared a […]
Yosemite
Yosemite, California, is the king of all National Parks. Although it was declared a National Park October 1st, 1890, after Yellowstone and Sequoia, Yosemite is the Park that started it all. It was here, amidst the spectacular beauty of “the valley” that John Muir convinced the US government to set aside some of its most […]
Redwood
Redwood National Park, California, was actually a latecomer to this area. Founded October 2nd, 1968, it joined three California State Parks in protecting some key groves of redwood trees, the tallest in the world, that grow only along a narrow strip of the California and Oregon coasts. Today, the area is jointly managed by the […]
Crater Lake
Crater Lake, Oregon, was the fifth National Park, established May 22nd, 1902 after 17 years of lobbying by a man named William Steel. The lake was formed thousands of years ago after the eruption and collapse of Mount Mazama in the Cascade Range. The lake is the deepest in the US (about 1,940 feet) and […]
Big Bend
Big Bend National Park, Texas, protects the diverse ecology of the area inside the “Big Bend” in the Rio Grande, the border between the US and Mexico.Big Bend, while technically situated in a desert area, is home to more than 400 species of birds and contains several different climate zones ranging from the Chihuahuan desert […]
Canyon de Chelly
Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de SHAY) is home to brilliant red canyons and ancient ruins set in the heart of the Navajo Reservation in northeast Arizona. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Visit. We visited Canyon de Chelly as part of our 8-Park Southwest tour in March 2004. […]
Sequoia and Kings Canyon
Sequoia National Park, the second oldest Park next to Yellowstone, was established in 1890 to protect the Giant Sequoia tree species found only in this area of the world. The Giant Sequoia is the largest of all living organisms, but their existence was threatened by logging before the Park was created. Kings Canyon National Park, […]
Great Smoky Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, which lays across the mountainous border between Tennessee and North Carolina, was established in 1934 to protect some of the densest “old-growth” deciduous forest in the world. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating Scenery Uniqueness Wildlife Diversity ILNP Park Review In a Word. “Refreshing” “How lovely […]