In addition to the following 'snapshot'
descriptions you can also read further information
on highlighted areas using the links supplied on the
individual tour pages. Once on tour, the Visitors'
Centres, historical roadside markers, Park Rangers,
museums and newspapers will be readily accessible
for additional information. Combine these with the
knowledge of your trek leader and you'll have plenty
of background - maybe more than you'll be able to
absorb.
And remember: one of the best sources
of information is the 'locals'- so don't be shy or
afraid about saying 'Hi'. You'll discover that your
accent is a marvellous icebreaker to help you experience
the real spirit of the USA.
Acadia National
Park. Here is a combination of mountain and seashore,
with a paved road leading to the bald summit of smooth
rockface atop Cadillac Mountain. From this vantage
you look out over the Atlantic islands off the Island
below, most of which is park land. The lively summer
resort town of Bar Harbor also lies at your feet.
Campsites along the waterfront of
broad craggy rocks are close enough to the sea to
be within constant earshot of the sound of the surf.
Some 120 miles of trails lead hikers along quiet beaches,
atop sea cliffs, and through the woods to fresh-water
ponds inland. Northeast harbor is the starting point
for a car tour along Sargen Drive leading to a fjord
at Somes Sound.
There is excellent surf casting
and, for those with patience, beachcombing. Bird watchers
can count on spotting ospreys, bald eagles, and many
species of duck, and along the shoreline many harbor
seals disport themselves.
In the heart of Utah's 'redrock
country" this National park has the world's largest
concentration of stone arches and windows, carved
by the forces of wind, water and time.
Perched high above the Colorado
River the grandeur of the landscape - the arches,
giant balanced rocks, spires, pinnacles, and slickrock
fins against the enormous sky, attracts hikers, photographers,
and artists to explore this wonderland of natures
creation.
The first explorers to the area
originally believed some ancient civilization was
responsible for these magnificent structures, and
to see Delicate Arch or Landscape Arch it's not hard
to understand why. Arches National Park is part of
the great Colorado Plateau and its spectacular beauty
was preserved for future generations when the park
was created in 1929.
That's how Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon
settler who gave his name to this area, described
it. And who would know better than Ebenezer? He tried
for years to work out a meagre living from the awesome
landscape, finally moving on to greener pastures.
The Piaute Indians, who used Bryce
Canyon for religious purposes, attributed supernatural
powers to it. They called it 'red rocks standing like
men in a bowl-shaped canyon'. For visitors it is a
delightful experience to walk among the spires and
natural rock formations, creature-like in shape and
design as they change colour and hue.
It has been referred to as a photographer's
and poet's paradise, surrounded by pine and aspen
forest. Remember, as you wonder at its endless shapes
and forms, its brilliant reds, maroons, yellows and
oranges, that this is all the handiwork of nature
and erosion.
If your trek
leader says you'll be watching thousands of bats take
flight today, or that you'll descend into caverns
miles below the surface - caverns large enough to
accommodate 14 football fields - don't think he or
she has gone loco, you're heading for Carlsbad.
Carlsbad
Caverns have been called 'kings of their kind', with
more than three miles of charted passageways and countless
unexplored areas.Visitors are free to explore
at their own pace; the National Park Service provides
little cassette players which tell of the caverns'
history and formation. Don't worry about the mile-long
hike to the bottom - there's a huge restaurant for
refreshments, and you return to the surface by elevator.
About those bats! In summer, just
before sunset (weather permitting; scientists are
still trying to find out how the bats, more than a
mile deep in the caves, know what the weather's like
outside), thousands upon thousands of bats spiral
out of the cavern mouths for an evening's feeding.
While you wait to see this spectacle you'll get an
informative and amusing lecture on the bats from the
park rangers. Don't be afraid of stepping into bat
droppings (guano), the animals sleep peacefully suspended
from a cave ceiling almost a mile from the open area
of the caverns. And no, they don't suck human blood
- they live on insects. Sorry, Dracula fans!
The caverns are nestled in
the Guadaloupe Mountain Range of Southern New Mexico,
where wildlife abounds. Mule deer, racoons and skunks
are unafraid and plentiful.
No pictures,
no description can quite capture the magnitude and
grandeur of this natural wonder - rightly acclaimed
as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It took
more than two billion years to reach its present state.
And today, though millions of people come to see it,
the natural setting remains hardly changed, giving
way only to the demands of nature.
You can explore the Grand Canyon
on foot or helicopters and small aircraft take visitors
for a very special bird's eye view of the immensity
of the canyon, offering great opportunities for photographs.
Some prefer to raft the rapids of the Colorado, or
descend to the bottom by burro. For others, just walking
along the rim trail to admire the canyon's awesome
beauty is sufficient.
The National Park Service operates
a museum and visitor's centre, with films and exhibits
explaining the history of the area and its early exploration.
Indian tribes who made their homes near the rim attributed
supernatural powers to the canyon, using it for religious
rites and ceremonies. Today much of the area is surrounded
by Reservations for the Hopi, Navajo and Havasupai
nations, and outside the park boundaries authentic
Indian handicrafts such as turquoise-and-silver jewellery,
rugs and earthenware can be bought at reasonable prices
from their makers. It's a fair bet to say that you'll
need plenty of film when you visit the Grand Canyon
and its environs.
''Try and
keep your eyes off them, just try! . . . Bet you can't!"
That's the challenge year-round
residents fling at visitors to this National Park.
And it's true - the majestic, awe-inspiring Grand
Teton Mountains defy you to ignore them. With peaks
higher than 13,000 feet, surrounded by a necklace
of crystal-clear lakes and cool green forests, the
Grand Tetons have a lot of nature to offer the visitor.
They got their name from a group
of French-speaking fur trappers who, seeing the magnificent
curves of the three largest peaks, called them 'Les
Trois Tetons', meaning 'the three breasts'. The peaks
later became familiar landmarks for early pioneers
going West, and the name stuck.
Today you can pull up a barstool
(actually an authentic Western saddle) in the Million
Dollar Cowboy Bar at Jackson Hole, and listen to stories
of murder along the Snake River, claim-jumping and
gold strikes. Most evenings you can see a stagecoach
robbery and shoot-out on Main Street, and enjoy a
town that takes great pride in maintaining its Western
wear and heritage.
Jackson Hole, thought to be named
after the famous Hole-in-the- Wall Gang who hid out
in the mountains, is also a good place to see adventure
of a more modern kind - white-water rafting, a popular
and accessible pastime. Don't be afraid to get your
feet wet; it's safe, and the experience of a lifetime.
"I just
can't believe it! They built a massive dam, and stopped
up waters from the Colorado River. And the water that
backed up behind it is like nothing I've ever seen
before!"
Past trekker's postcard to friends.
Lake Powell Recreation Area is considered one of the
most unusual water resorts in the world. Massive canyons,
and sheer cliff faces have become the shoreline to
a man-made lake. Canyons can be navigated by boat,
the waters are crystal-clear and water-skiing is a
favourite pastime in its large bays and channels.
This is a marvellous setting for testing your mettle
on water-skis, or taking the helm of a rented speedboat.
Lake Powell has no shortage of night-time
entertainment, either. Saloons and bars offer live
entertainment, and the locals, many of whom are Navajo
Indians, are quite friendly. The lake is surrounded
by some of the largest Indian Reservations in America,
and hand-crafted jewellery, rugs and earthenware can
be purchased at reasonable cost.
Eternally
snowcapped mountains, million-year-old glaciers, more
than fifty miles of the wildest Pacific Coast shoreline,
and a rain forest to match any of the Amazon - these
are all within this magnificent National Park.
Waterfalls abound in all sizes,
and wildlife lives unmolested in lush natural surroundings.Over
600 miles of footpaths and hiking trails make this
one of those parks that you have to get out and explore
on foot. The shoreline beaches offer the best in driftwood
collection, often producing awesome and twisted natural
works of art. Plant and flower experts call Olympic,
with its colourful meadows, a truly natural wonderland.
The concept
of setting aside natural lands for the use and enjoyment
of the average American citizen was new when Yellowstone
was declared a National Park Area.
Before its formation, natural lands
had been the exclusive privilege of the wealthy. Its
creation was to set a precedent, followed by more
than 100 nations of the world, in establishing national
parks and game reserves for generations to come. Yellowstone
was America's first national park, established in
1872. It is also the largest in the continental USA,
with 2,221,000 acres inside its boundaries - three
times the size of Rhode Island!
Local Indian tribes called it 'Rock
Yellow Water', translated by fur trappers as 'Yellowstone'.
Inside the park are about 10,000 thermal features,
including geysers ('Old Faithful' is the best-known),
waterfalls, bubbling mudholes, steamvents, hot springs
and brilliantly coloured thermal pools. Wildlife and
plantlife are protected; grizzly and black bear, moose,
elk, bald eagle, Canada goose, bighorn sheep, coyote,
buffalo and mountain lion live in Yellowstone wilderness
without fear of the hunter's rifle.
Volume upon volume has been written
about Yellowstone. It has inspired millions of photographs
and untold numbers of paintings. Yet each visitor
will have his or her own way of expressing the things
they feel and experience in this awe-inspiring place.
For some, remaining silent is enough.
"The
most songful streams in the world, the nobles/forests,
the loftiest granite domes, the deepest ice-sculptured
canyons, and snowy mountains soaring into the sky
. . .''
...........John Muir, Yosemite, 1868..........
Yosemite, pronounced 'Yo-SEM-it-ee'
(practice this if you really want to impress those
who say it incorrectly, particularly the foreigners),
is much more than a valley in the Sierra Nevada. It's
no wonder that millions of visitors have come to see
and experience its wonders. The park boasts a waterfall
seven times higher than Niagara, with a trail right
to its base so that hikers can cool themselves in
the spray. In the valleys there are more than 780
miles of wilderness trails for expert and novice hikers
in Yosemite you'll also find groves of sequoias, the
tallest trees on earth.
Visitors can fish for trout in crystal-clear
waters, or refresh themselves in the Merced River.
Others prefer to 'innertube' or float on air-mattresses
on the placid current. For the more adventurous and
qualified, sheer-face climbing on the famous El Captain
Mountain and Halfdome is the realisation of a hiker's
dream. From the ground these climbers look like ants
as they head for the summit. Less effort is involved
in renting a bike or riding on the free trams through
the valley. Wildlife is abundant,
and not in the least afraid of Man, so don't plan
to keep midnight snacks in your tent, unless you're
willing to share with a bear!
"Nothing
can exceed the wonderful beauty of Zion . . . In the
nobility and beauty of its sculptures there is no
comparison. There is an eloquence to their forms which
stirs the imagination with a singular power, and kindles
in the mind a glowing response . . . "
..........Clarence E Dutton, geologist, 1882..........
It is the hands and imagination
of Nature that must take credit for the twisted and
oddly-shaped formations of rock in Zion National Park.
Many of these human-like formations were begun in
a process which started more than 200 million years
ago. And the changes are still taking place.
Even the most casual of hikers will
enjoy meandering among these incredible rock-shapes,
creating names for each as they go. Like 'frog getting
ready to jump'. Or 'spearchucker'. Or . . . .? The
Visitors' Centre inside the park boundaries has exhibits
and a film which describe the process that is still
shaping the weird landscape of Zion.
