5 National Parks That Will Change Your Life
By: Julia Schliesser
Have your parents ever told you that your family was going on a road trip to a national park? And let’s say you thought it would be boring? Now that’s where you are wrong! National Parks are beautiful places to go visit! They are full of nature and come with many surprises! About 300 million people visit national parks all over the U.S.! There are about 440 national parks in the U.S.! So out of all of the 440 national parks here are 5 that will change your life!
National park #1: This national park is called The Great Smoky mountains! The great smoky mountains is a mountain range on the border of Tennessee and North carolina. About 11.5 million people visit yearly. What's unique about the great smoky mountains is the diversity of its plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and its history of southern Appalachian mountain culture. The Great Smoky Mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountains, which are among the oldest in the world. The park has over 800 miles of hiking trails, including the famous Appalachian Trail running through the park. When you get there visitors can enjoy scenic vistas, waterfalls, and mountain streams.
National park #2: The Grand Canyon is a mile deep gorge that is found in northern Arizona! About 5 million people visit yearly. The Grand Canyon offers one of the most visible examples of a worldwide geological phenomenon known as the Great Unconformity, in which 250 million-year-old rock strata lie back-to-back with 1.2 billion-year-old rocks. What happened during the hundreds of millions of years between remains largely a mystery. There is so much to do in the grand canyon like going on a hike, going to the theater, mule trips, and way more!
National park #3: Yosemite National Park is in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. It is famous for its giant, ancient sequoia trees, and its Tunnel View. About 3.5 million people visit Yosemite yearly. There are many things to do in yosemite! You can go on hiking tours, you can bike on the valley loop trail, go horseback riding, and go rock climbing! Many fun things happened in yosemite. In 1849, Yosemite Valley, located in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, began to receive many settlers, miners, and tourists to the region because of the California Gold Rush.
National park #4: Yellowstone National Park is a national park on top of a volcanic hot spot. Mostly in Wyoming, the park spreads into parts of Montana and Idaho too. Yellowstone has canyons, alpine rivers, lush forests, hot springs and gushing geysers, including its most famous, Old Faithful. It's also home to hundreds of animal species, including bears, wolves, bison, elk and antelope.
National park #5: Voyageurs National Park is in northern Minnesota, near the Canadian border. It covers a vast area and is known for its forests, waterways and huge, island-dotted Rainy, Kabetogama and Namakan lakes. The Ellsworth Rock Gardens, created by artist Jack Ellsworth, are a series of abstract sculptures on a terraced outcrop. The remote Kettle Falls area has a dam and a red-roofed hotel, both from the early 20th century.
Author bio:
I am a 6th grader, and I love national parks and nature! I also like learning new things and exploring. I have been to Yellowstone, Grand canyon, and Yosemite. They were awesome!