Exploring the natural scenery of the United States
The United States contains a wealth of National Parks, National Forests, scenic drives, state parks, and other wilderness areas. The links below will take you to a place of your choosing where you will find valuable hiking and travel information as well as many colorful photographs that accompany each description.
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Grand Canyon National Park
Here, the Colorado River has carved a massive gorge beyond reckoning where millions of years of geologic history lie
exposed before the naked eye. Some of the oldest rock in the world can be found at the base of the canyon.
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Coconino National Forest (Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon Region)
The Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Byway in Arizona, which runs from Flagstaff to Sedona, is a nice introduction to Oak Creek Canyon and the red rock wonderland of Sedona. This is a region that sits on the southern edge of the massive Colorado Plateau, a geological zone that spans four states.
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National Monuments in Northern Arizona
The multitude of National Monuments in northern Arizona contain serpentine canyons, awe-inspiring buttes, volcanic moonscapes, and Native American archeological sites. This page discusses Canyon de Chelly, Navajo, Wupatki, and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments.
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Petrified Forest National Park
Petrified Forest National Park is a place of scientific curiousity, historical significance, quiet reflection, and stark badlands. It is this quirky combination of factors that makes the park so fascinating to visit. Significant deposits of petrified wood are scattered all over the area.
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National Parks and Forests in Southern Arizona
The Tucson region of Southern Arizona is part of the vast Sonoran Desert where giant saguaro cactuses thrive in rough rock, sand, and gravel along the slopes of rugged mountains. These amazing plants have branching arms that gracefully curve upwards resulting in a unique and striking shape.
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Superstition Mountains
East of Phoenix, the craggy Superstition Mountains rise precipitously from the desert floor. This mountain range is part of the Sonoran Desert and you can expect to find many of the plants common to this ecosystem like saguaro cactus, cholla cactus, agave, and yucca to name just a few.
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Sierra Nevada Region
Some people consider the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California to be an outdoors paradise without rival in
the continental United States. That is certainly saying something given the enviable galaxy of world-class parks
found throughout the country.
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National Parks and Forests in Southern California
Southern California is a diverse land containing everything from snow-capped mountains, rugged canyons, and dense forests to wild deserts, rolling fields filled with wildflowers, and volcanic rock formations. Two National Parks bear mentioning: Death Valley and Joshua Tree. Both preserve vast desert ecosystems.
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National Parks and Forests in Western Colorado
This page examines several National Parks and Forests in the scenic Western half of Colorado, including Mesa Verde National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado National Monument, and Uncompahgre National Forest. The Colorado Plateau and the Rocky Mountains are featured prominently in this region.
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Scenic Byways in Idaho
Not far from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are two scenic byways in southeastern Idaho that make for a nice detour away from the ubiquitous tourist crowds. Taken together, these two byways will expose you to some of the nicest waterfalls in Idaho.
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Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
One of the most dramatic scenes in the park is the Great Falls of the Potomac where the river pours over a jumble of sharp, jagged rocks and then flows through the narrow confines of Mather Gorge. A thick forest envelops both sides of the river where hiking trails provide a welcome respite for stressed-out Beltway-region residents.
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Ruby Mountains, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest
The Ruby Mountains have been referred to as Nevada's most scenic mountain range. Ice age glacial activity has worked wonders on this landscape, producing sharp ridges and hanging valleys that bear a striking resemblance to some of Yosemite's high country.
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Northern New Mexico
A series of unusual landforms makes this corner of the Colorado Plateau one of nature's sublime masterpieces. There
are mysterious tablelands and mesas, huge lava fields, colorful canyons and rock formations, forbidding badlands,
beautiful forests of pine, cottonwood, and aspen, and sacred Native American lands.
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Southern New Mexico
The southern half of New Mexico leads to many a quiet path. Largely devoid of development and the imprint of man,
this vast region features beautiful scenery in a peaceful, idyllic setting. Quiet towns are widely dispersed across
arid plains punctuated by relatively anonymous mountains.
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Letchworth State Park
The Genesee River has carved an extraordinary gorge that must be considered one of the natural wonders of the Eastern United States. Maples, oaks, and beeches grow all over the top of the gorge and in many sections this forest growth even descends along the canyon walls to the banks of the river.
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Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway
The rare ecosystem of Roan Mountain features expansive grassy slopes carpeted with wildflowers, dense thickets of Catawba rhododendron, and pockets of flame azalea. The elevation, dependable moisture, fertile soil, and temperate climate of the region is ideal for the growth of exceedingly rich and diverse plant life.
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Cook Forest State Park
In a remote corner of northwestern Pennsylvania lies Cook Forest State Park where virgin stands of white pine and giant hemlock have been protected from the once-thriving timber industry. Many of the trees are 200 feet tall, making this one of the most important pockets of primeval forest in the eastern United States.
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The Black Hills and Badlands
The Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota are steeped in history, legend, and scenic beauty. Native Americans consider the Black Hills sacred, a spiritual epicenter where Lakota heroes like Crazy Horse once received visions from the Great Spirit.
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Big Bend National Park
This is the Wild West at its wildest. Big Bend encompasses a vast tract of Chihuahuan desert that allows vistors
to experience exotic and at times dangerous wildlife, fascinating geology, prickly desert vegetation, glorious
sunsets, and mile upon mile of sprawling desert.
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Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Deep in the American Southwest lies a wondrous region known as Guadalupe Mountains National Park. What sets this
place apart from other mountainous areas is its geology.
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Scenic Byways - Texas
View photos and information for Scenic Byways in Texas, including: the Davis Mountains Loop and the El Camino del Rio (also known as the River Road). These beautiful drives provide access to hiking trails, historic sites, scientific research institutions, and untamed wilderness.
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Arches National Park
There are only so many variations of the word "spectacular". With over 2000 natural sandstone arches, balanced rock formations, sandstone fins, mesas and slickrock domes, this park will leave you exhausted with sensory overkill. The scale and scope of the landscape is phenomenal.
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Ashley National Forest Scenic Byway
The two main attractions along this delightful scenic byway are Sheep Creek Canyon Geological Area and the Flaming Gorge. Sheep Creek Canyon is accessible via a small 13-mile detour on Forest Road 218 from Utah route 44. Here, cottonwoods line a creek which flows through a convoluted labyrinth of eroded and sculpted rock.
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Bryce Canyon National Park
The park is famous for a series of natural amphitheaters scooped out of the Paunsaugunt Plateau over the eons by rain, snow, ice, and wind. This constant erosion has left behind a fairyland of rock spires and pinnacles in deep shades of orange, pink, and red. There are about 12 amphitheaters located within the park's boundaries.
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Canyonlands National Park
There are three distinct regions that comprise Canyonlands National Park, each with its own special character. Curious rock formations and spectacular red rock canyons dominate this phenomenal section of the Colorado Plateau. Dead Horse Point provides a classic vista of this park.
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The Great Basin
Out here in Utah's desolate Basin and Range country, the endless horizon gives way to dark, mysterious mountain ranges, vast salt plains and an enormous, dead lake. This remote, hostile environment in unlike any other place in Utah. There is a seemingly timeless, primal energy here that resists definition.
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The "Little Grand Canyon"/San Rafael Swell
The San Rafael Swell is a spectacular uplift in the Colorado Plateau that can be likened to an enormous dome rising
unevenly from the earth's crust. As is the case pretty well everywhere in southern Utah, long-term erosion has worked
its magic on this landscape, sculpting a stupendous array of canyons, cliffs, and mesas.
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Snow Canyon State Park
Snow Canyon State Park, located just outside the sprawling town of St. George Utah, gives you a small, yet potent dose of the kind of red rock scenery that southern Utah is famous for. This charming 6,853 acre park has strikingly colored Navajo sandstone cliffs and canyons.
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Utah 12 Scenic Byway (includes Capitol Reef National Park)
A tapestry of southern Utah's finest scenery unfolds along the 122 miles of Scenic Byway 12. This drive starts off in the tiny town of Panguitch and from there it enters into a realm of high desert landscapes, including Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, the Escalante Canyons, Boulder Mountain, and Capitol Reef National Park.
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Wasatch and Uinta National Forests
Right in Salt Lake City's backyard are two narrow canyons cut out of the Wasatch Mountain range. Known as Little
Cottonwood Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon, both canyons can be accessed via paved roads that ascend along rushing
streams surrounded by a truly beautiful forest and fascinating geology.
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Zion National Park
In a region where truly phenomenal scenery is the norm, Zion National Park is a gem of unsurpassed
beauty. Zion is a place where words fail, where fantasy is reality, and where nature seamlessly orchestrates
an irresistible symphony of visual delights.
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Mount Rogers National Recreation Area
The achingly beautiful Appalachian highlands in Virginia's Mount Rogers National Recreation Area resemble a storybook oasis of lush greenery that could easily have inspired William Blake's poetic illustrations with their visions of earthly paradise and childhood innocence.
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Shenandoah National Park
Skyline Drive is a 105 mile scenic road that snakes along the backbone of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Frequent pullouts along the drive offer fantastic mountain views, with the Shenandoah Valley visible to the west and the foothills visible to the east.
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New River Gorge National River
This park is a hiker's paradise with over 25 trails of various lengths, including many which terminate with spectacular panoramic views of the forested gorge and its rugged cliffs. Sandstone Falls is an awesome chain of cascades that extends across the width of the New River.
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Grand Teton National Park
Immediately south of Yellowstone National Park lies the equally mesmerizing but much smaller Grand Teton National
Park. An icon of the Rockies, the Teton mountain range rises dramatically from the broad Snake River valley,
otherwise known as Jackson Hole.
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Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park forms the core of the largest intact ecosystem in the continental United States. It is
perhaps the only place in the lower 48 where one can catch a glimpse of what North America was like thousands
of years ago when primordial nature reigned supreme.
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National Scenic Byways - Wyoming
View photos and information for National Scenic Byways in Wyoming, including: the Beartooth Highway, the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, the Big Horn Mountains Scenic Byway, and the North Fork of the Shoshone. These beautiful drives provide access to hiking trails, historic sites, and majestic scenery.
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For questions or comments, feel free to contact me.
