Himanshi singh May 19, 2020
The centerpiece of California's Yosemite National Park is surely one of the most recognizable landscapes in the world. The 4,000-foot-deep, glacially-carved phenomenon houses iconic features such as El Capitan, a massive and sheer granite face that beckons the world's best rock climbers.
This erosion-defying, knife-edge ridge ascends what can only be described as a shark fin cut out of rock. Similar to the final stretch of Half Dome, the narrow ridge of Angel's Landing in Zion National Park, Utah, is not for the faint of heart
Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley, is the tallest mountain in North America. This foreboding juggernaut, standing at an oxygen-depriving 20,310-feet-above-sea-level, is the most magnetic feature of Denali National Park and Preserve in South-Central Alaska.
Mesa Verde National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which protects the ancient structures and cultural heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) people. For over 700 years (roughly between 550 to 1300) this Indigenous group built their homes throughout the cliffs and plateaus of Mesa Verde, in modern-day Southwest Colorado.
Coyote Buttes North, also known as "The Wave," is a surreal, striated landscape on the Arizona-Utah border. Though it strays a little outside of the official boundary, The Wave is administered by the Bureau of Land Management from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument visitor center, and therefore, well worth a mention here
Going-to-the-Sun Road is a stunning drive through the heart of Montana's Glacier National Park. This 50-mile trans-mountain highway opens up a world of Rocky Mountain scenery that would otherwise be inaccessible to the public.
Crater Lake formed some 7,700 years ago when a volcanic eruption caused the mountain to collapse, creating the deepest lake in the United States (1,943-feet maximum depth). To drink in the views, visitors to this Southern Oregon park venture high into the Cascade Mountain Range.
Yellowstone National Park is a wonder in and of itself. It is not only the oldest national park in the United States but also in the world. Founded on March 1, 1872, this historic initiative continues to ensure the protection of 2.2 million acres across parts of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.
One can never miss the longest and (one of) the deepest canyons in the United States on any National Park sightseeing tour. The incredulous girth of the Grand Canyon, in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, seduces one's gaze into endlessly scanning - never sure what to settle on or how to possibly take it all in.
The luminous dunes of White Sands National Park in New Mexico are composed of gypsum crystals (i.e., mineral deposits left behind from evaporated lakes), which then blow into the impressive and dynamic structures. There are 275 square-miles of dune fields throughout the park, 115 of which are available for the public to explore.
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is an International Biosphere Reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is home to two of the world's most active volcanoes: Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, both of which are on the island of Hawaii. Kīlauea has erupted dozens of times since 1952, with almost continuous activity between 1983 and 2018.
California has gone to great lengths to preserve and highlight its arboreal treasures. Muir Woods National Monument, which is just North of San Francisco, and Redwoods National and State Parks, which are a combination of sites spread along the Northwest coast, serve a variety of purposes, but the Redwood trees are easily the focal point.
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