Fort Polaski National Monument is abounding in history. In April 1862, the Battle for Fort Pulaski marked a turning point in military history. It featured the first significant use of rifled cannons in combat. These accurate, long-range weapons shattered Fort Pulaski's walls from over a mile away. The fort finally surrendered after thirty-hours of bombardment. This defeat surprised military strategists worldwide and signaled the end of masonry fortifications.
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Cabrillo National Monument boasts the story of John Rodriguez Cabrillo, who upon climbing out of his boat and onto shore in 1542, stepped into history as the first European to set foot on what is now the West Coast of the United States. In addition to this rich historic story of 16th century exploration, the park is home to a bounty of cultural and natural resources. Come visit the park and embark on your own Voyage of Discovery!
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Road Biking
Biking is permitted on any road in the park. The definition of a road includes fire access and other management roads that are not open for public automobile traffic. Opportunities may exist for riders to use certain backcountry roads, however, you must check with park officials first. A ...
Although Acadia is dazzling in summer, the park’s beauty flourishes throughout the year. By land and by sea there is no such thing as an off-season at Acadia.
SPRING, SUMMER AND FALL
Amphitheater Programs
In the evening, Acadia’s two campgrounds present free programs in their centrally located amphitheaters. Programs span a range ...
Yosemite National Park, one of the first national parks in the United States, is best known for its waterfalls and impressive granite walls. Within its nearly 1,200 square miles, you can also find deep valleys, sprawling meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area, and the grandeur of the Sierra Nevada John Muir describes as "the heart of the world".
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Zion National Park offers some of America's most beautiful and adventure inspiring landscapes. Day and overnight visitors to the Utah playground are greeted with endless desert trails, precipitous canyon walls, magnificent wildflowers, and breathtakingly open skies. A dream destination for summer or winter outdoor enthusiasts, this southwestern park will please both those who want to sightsee and soak up the fascinating Native American history, and those who want to run, bike, hike, and swim their way into the "red earth" sunset.
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Yellowstone is the world's first national park and one of the largest in the contiguous United States. Sprawling across volcanic plateaus in the northwest corner of Wyoming, Yellowstone contains more than 2 million acres of steaming geysers, crystalline lakes, thundering waterfalls and panoramic vistas.
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"I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota," state Theodore Roosevelt years after visiting the Badlands. He first stumbled upon the area in September 1883 on a hunting trip. While here he became interested in the cattle business and invested in the Maltese Cross Ranch. His legacy lives on within the borders of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
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Stand at the base of a coast redwood and the huckleberry bushes tower over you. Watch statuette Roosevelt elk grazing in the prairies. Observe the tail of a female Chinook salmon heave skyward as she makes a nest for her eggs. Whether a morning or night person, you can hear the endangered marbled murrelets' keer across the treetops as they fly from sea to mossy nest.
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This "park in the sky," which captures the full grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, is one of our country's most frequently visited national parks, attracting more than three million visitors each year. 76 of the great mountains in the park reach elevations of 12,000 feet or more. Forests of spruce and fir tower over wide valleys where aspen and willow line hundreds of streams and lakes. At the highest elevations, above the tree line, is the fascinating, arctic-like alpine tundra, fraught with blizzards in winter and filled with flowered meadows in summer.
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