Congaree National Park is home to the largest remnant of old-growth floodplain forest remaining on the continent! Experience beauty and tranquility as you visit the national and state champion trees in the park, towering to a record size amidst astonishing biodiversity. Walk, paddle or just take it easy within this dynamic floodplain ecosystem.
Welcome to Crater Lake National Park, located in Southern Oregon on the crest of the Cascade Mountain range, 100 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Crater Lake has inspired people for hundreds of years with its deep, blue lake, surrounding 2,000 foot high cliffs, two picturesque islands, and tumultuous volcanic past. It is a place of exceptional beauty, as it lies inside a caldera created when the Mount Mazama collapsed 7,700 years ago following a large eruption.
Although Cuyahoga Valley is located near the urban environments of Cleveland and Akron, it remains in a world of its own. Named the "crooked river" by American Indians, the winding Cuyahoga gives way to deep forests, rolling hills, and open farmlands. The park is abound with flora and fauna, gives a sense of times past, and provides a refuge Ohio's residents and visitors to experience recreation and solitude.
Just off the coast of California's mainland lies Channel Islands National Park, one of North America's most pristine treasures. Due to isolation over thousands of years, the park has created unique animals, plants, and archeological resources found nowhere else on Earth. The park encompasses five remarkable islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara) and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources.
Welcome to Canyonlands National Park's colorful landscape, which has eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River and its tributaries. The rivers divide the park into four districts, including the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze and the rivers themselves. While these areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character and offers different opportunities for exploration.
Called "Wayne Wonderland" in the 1920s by local boosters Ephraim P. Pectol and Joseph S. Hickman, Capitol Reef National Park is bursting with unique natural and cultural history. The park was established to protect its infamous Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth's crust known as a monocline that extends from nearby Thousand Lakes Mountain to the Colorado River (now Lake Powell). Comprised of 378 square miles of colorful canyons, ridges, buttes, and monoliths, this park is truly spectacular.
Welcome to Carslbad Caverns National Park, located in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert and Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. Underneath the surface scattered with prickly pears, chollas, sotols and agaves lie more than 300 known caves. The park contains 113 of these caves, formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone, creating some of the largest caves in North America.
Welcome to Bryce Canyon, famous for its unique geology consisting of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. Check out eerie, grotesque and often whimsical hoodoos in the park, along with ancient trees and scenic views from the rim. The park transcends 2,000 feet of elevation and exists in three distinct climatic zones: Spruce/Fir Forest, Ponderosa Pine forest, and Pinyon Pine/Juniper Forest. Scientists and children alike can enjoy this magical park!
Black Canyon of the Gunnison's unique and spectacular landscape was formed slowly by the action of water and rock abrading down through hard Proterozoic crystalline rock. No other canyon in North America combines the narrow opening, sheer walls, and startling depths offered by the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. With a plethora of recreational activities, including hiking and ranger guided programs, there are many ways to experience Black Canyon.
Big Bend National Park encompasses more than 800,000 acres in southwest Texas. Sometimes considered "three parks in one," Big Bend includes mountain, desert, and river environments. In just an hour you can drive from the banks of the Rio Grande to a mountain basin nearly a mile high. Come and explore one of the last remaining wild corners of the United States, and experience unmatched sights, sounds, and solitude.
