The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who seek them
National Parks
100 National Parks Of The World
Feb 18th
1. Banff National Park (Canada)
Valley of the Ten Peaks and Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Canada. [ Photo by Gorgo / public domain ]
Banff National Park is Canada’s oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110-180 kilometres (70-110 mi) west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 sq mi) of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes. The Icefields Parkway extends from Lake Louise, connecting to Jasper National Park in the north. Provincial forests and Yoho National Park are neighbours to the west, while Kootenay National Park is located to the south and Kananaskis Country to the southeast. The main commercial centre of the park is the town of Banff, in the Bow River valley. (based on a wikipedia article) More >
Wood Buffalo National Park – Alberta
Jan 7th
outdoorsica.com
Spilling across Alberta’s northern border into the Northwest Territories, Wood Buffalo encompasses a large area of the subarctic plain. It is a huge national park, certainly the largest in Canada and one of the largest in the world. The park extends 176 miles at its greatest length and averages about 100 miles in width, taking in more than 17,000 square miles—an area five times that of Yellowstone. More >
Yellowstone National Park – Wyoming
Jan 7th
Wikipedia
Around the Grand Loop Road loom the vistas, the sights and sounds and smells that bring the world flocking to Yellowstone: Mammoth Hot Springs’ amazing mineral formations; Roaring Mountain’s steaming fumaroles; Fountain Paint Pot’s bubbling cauldron of reddish mud; the delicate, brightly colored terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring; and the all-time favorites— the waterspouts of the Upper Geyser Basin, capped by Old Faithful. These features, together with the spectacular beauty of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the abundant wildlife, supported the area’s designation in 1872 as the world’s first national park. Since then, it has developed into an important wildlife haven. More >
Banff National Park – Canada
Jan 7th
wildlifearchives.com
First and most famous of Lil the national parks of Canada, Banff is filled with glittering snowcapped peaks, valleys draped in evergreen forests, turquoise lakes, flowered alpine meadows, glaciers, hot springs, waterfalls, and abundant wildlife. Four mountain parks — Banff and its neighbors Jasper, Yoho, and Kootenay — contain such a large and representative segment of the Canadian Rockies that they have been collectively designated a UNESCO world heritage site.
Banff topography is characterized by sweeping, U-shaped valleys that separate the parallel Front and Main Ranges of the Rockies, mountains made of sedimentary rocks that were uplifted and folded, then shaped by glaciers. Banff’s highest peaks are in the Main Range, which forms the Continental Divide. At Valley of the Ten Peaks, this soaring watershed forms a rampart about 8 miles long and more than 3,000 feet high from base to ridgeline. More >
Guadalupe Mountains – Western Texas
Jan 3rd
northerncoloradooutdoors.com
Like the prow of a gallant ship, El Capitan, southern bluff of the Guadalupe Mountains, seems to cut through waves of gleaming gypsum sands. It is a moment to remember, that first glimpse of the massive escarpment rising 5,000 feet above the sere Chihuahuan Desert in West Texas. More >
Grand Teton National Park – Wyoming
Nov 27th
Part of the Rocky Mountains, the snow-dusted Teton Range soars without foothills from the level floor of Jackson Hole, a long, narrow valley in Wyoming. This special place is preserved as Grand Teton National Park, named after the highest peak that rises to an impressive 4,200 metres (13,775 feet). With over 320 km (200 miles) of roads and trails, the Park offers wonderful hiking and biking opportunities.
Mountain bikers can ride the Park from end to end, starting at Jackson, 8 km (5 miles) outside the south entrance. Stay on the road until it forks, giving a choice – Teton Park Road goes over the Snake River and up beside Cottonwood Creek to Jenny Lake, then on past Jackson Lake to rejoin the eastern route. The latter is more straightforward, following the Snake River all the way to Jackson Lake Lodge at the junction with the western route. More >
Gunung Leuser National Park – Indonesia
Oct 19th
by glitzyglamtrash
Logging, road construction, and palm-oil plantations eat away at Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia, one of the world’s largest remaining tropical rainforests and most diverse wildlife habitats. Global warming is also a growing threat, because island nations like Indonesia will be among the first to feel the effects of rising sea levels.
It used to be the epitome of a tropical rainforest paradise – Sumatra, the large Indonesian island across the Strait of Malacca from Singapore. But in the last century, Sumatra went from 16 million hectares (40 m acres) of lowlands rainforest to only 2.2 million hectares (5,5 m acres). Now it is down even further, to about 800,000 hectares (2 million acres). More >
