[Number, 16; Total Area, 9,552 Square Miles]
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| | AREA |
NATIONAL PARK |LOCATION | in | DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS
and Date | |square|
| | miles|
---------------+----------+------+-------------------------------------
Hot Springs |Middle | 1½|46 hot springs possessing curative
Reservation |Arkansas | |properties--Many hotels and
1832 | | |boarding-houses in adjacent city of
| | |Hot Springs--bath-houses under
| | |public control.
| | |
Yellowstone |North- |3,348 |More geysers than in all rest of
1872 |western | |world together--Boiling springs--Mud
|Wyoming | |volcanoes--Petrified forests--Grand
| | |Canyon of the Yellowstone,
| | |remarkable for gorgeous coloring--
| | |Large lakes--Many large streams
| | |and waterfalls--Vast wilderness
| | |inhabited by deer, elk, bison, moose,
| | |antelope, bear, mountain sheep,
| | |beaver, etc., constituting greatest
| | |wild bird and animal preserve in
| | |world--Altitude 6,000 to 11,000
| | |feet--Exceptional trout fishing.
| | |
Yosemite |Middle |1,125 |Valley of world-famed beauty--Lofty
1890 |eastern | |cliffs--Romantic vistas--Many
|California| |waterfalls of extraordinary
| | |height--3 groves of big trees--High
| | |Sierra--Large areas of snowy peaks--
| | |Waterwheel falls--Good trout fishing.
| | |
Sequoia |Middle | 237 |The Big Tree National Park--12,000
1890 |eastern | |sequoia trees over 10 feet in
|California| |diameter, some 25 to 36 feet in
| | |diameter--Towering mountain ranges--
| | |Startling precipices--Fine trout
| | |fishing.
| | |
General Grant |Middle | 4 |Created to preserve the celebrated
1890 |eastern | |General Grant Tree, 35 feet in
|California| |diameter--six miles from Sequoia
| | |National Park and under same
| | |management.
| | |
Mount Rainier |West | 324 |Largest accessible single-peak
1899 |central | |glacier system--28 glaciers, some of
|Washington| |large size--Forty-eight square miles
| | |of glacier, fifty to five hundred
| | |feet thick--remarkable sub-alpine
| | |wild-flower fields.
| | |
Crater Lake |South- | 249 |Lake of extraordinary blue in crater
1902 |western | |of extinct volcano, no inlet, no
|Oregon | |outlet--Sides 1,000 feet high--
| | |Interesting lava formations--Fine
| | |trout fishing.
| | |
Mesa Verde |South- | 77 |Most notable and best-preserved
1906 |western | |prehistoric cliff dwellings in United
|Colorado | |States, if not in the world.
| | |
Platt |Southern | 1½|Sulphur and other springs possessing
1906 |Oklahoma | |curative properties--Under Government
| | |regulations.
| | |
Glacier |North- |1,534 |Rugged mountain region of unsurpassed
1910 |western | |Alpine character--250 glacier-fed
|Montana | |lakes of romantic beauty--60 small
| | |glaciers--Peaks of unusual shape--
| | |Precipices thousands of feet deep--
| | |Almost sensational scenery of marked
| | |individuality--Fine trout fishing.
| | |
Rocky Mountain |North | 358 |Heart of the Rockies--Snowy range,
1915 |middle | |peaks 11,000 to 14,250 feet
|Colorado | |altitude--Remarkable records of
| | |glacial period.
| | |
Lassen Volcanic|North | 12 |Contains Lassen Peak (10,437 feet),
National Park |middle | |hot springs, geysers and lakes.
1916 |California| |
| | |
Mt. McKinley |Territory |2,250 |Contains Mt. McKinley, loftiest
National Park |of Alaska | |summit in America, 20,300 feet.
1917 | | |
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National Parks of less popular interest are:
Sully’s Hill, 1904, North Dakota Wooded hilly tract on Devil’s Lake.
Wind Cave, 1903, South Dakota Large natural cavern.
Casa Grande Ruin, 1892, Arizona Prehistoric Indian ruin.