National Parks

Album Published June 18, 2023

Pea Ridge National Military Park

At Pea Ridge, 16,500 Rebels attacked 10,500 Union soldiers. The Union general was expecting an attack from the south, so he arranged his front accordingly, with his field hospital, supplies, and so forth to the north. But the rebels made an audacious maneuver and attacked from the north. General Curtis had just enough time to completely rearrange his troops – no small task. The Union won. Confederate casualties were about double that of the Union. Missouri was never again threatened.

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Album Published June 4, 2019

Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana Dunes National Park was established as a National Lakeshore in 1966 and upgraded to a National Park in February of 2019. It hugs fifteen miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and is one of the most botanically diverse of all the National Parks.

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Album Published May 5, 2019

Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave National Park is an unobtrusive yet interesting place. Established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the seventh national park and the first cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world. The cave is notable for its calcite formations known as boxwork. About 95 percent of the world's discovered boxwork formations are found here. Wind Cave is one of the longest caves in the world with nearly 150 miles of explored cave passageways. Above ground, the park includes the largest remaining natural mixed-grass prairie in the United States. It's also a tough place for us amateurs to get interesting photographs.

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Album Published April 22, 2019

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lassen Peak and Cinder Cone were declared as U.S. National Monuments in May 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt, and the area was established as a National Park in 1916. It is home to steaming fumaroles, wildflower filled meadows, clear mountain lakes, and, of course, numerous volcanoes.

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Album Published April 22, 2019

Yosemite National Park

If national parks were named for their outstanding features, Yosemite would probably be called Granite Slabs National Park. Established in 1890, it is one of the most famous and most visited National Parks in the country. Although it covers nearly 1200 square miles, most visitors spend their time in the 7 square miles of Yosemite Valley.

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Album Published April 22, 2019

Grand Teton National Park

The peaks of the Teton Range rise dramatically over the valley of Jackson Hole, soaring five to seven thousand feet. The Tetons are fronted by a series of clear water natural lakes (and one reservoir) which feed the Snake River. The park was established in 1929 after failed attempts to increase the size of neighboring Yellowstone National Park.

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Album Published April 19, 2019

Mesa Verde National Park

Established in 1906 by Teddy Roosevelt, Mesa Verde is not only a National Park, but a UNESCO World Heritage site. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States and is is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States.

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Album Published April 19, 2019

Joshua Tree National Park

Franklin D. Roosevelt used the power of the 1906 Antiquities Act to establish Joshua Tree National Monument. In 1950, the size of the park was reduced by about 290,000 acres to open the land to more mining. The monument was redesignated as a national park on October 31, 1994, by the Desert Protection Act, which also added back 234,000 acres. Two distinct desert ecosystems, the Mojave and the Colorado, come together in Joshua Tree National Park. A fascinating variety of plants and animals make their homes in a land sculpted by strong winds and occasional torrents of rain.

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Album Published April 19, 2019

Capitol Reef National Park

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Album Published April 19, 2019

Arches National Park

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Album Published April 17, 2019

Rocky Mountain National Park

I spend a lot of time in RMNP and am attempting to visit as many of its features as I can. My primary published source of information is Lisa Foster's hiking guide. I've taken the liberty to split the park into the same geographical divisions she did. For each destination, I've given trailhead, distance, and elevation gain along with a short text describing the route.

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Album Published February 10, 2008

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

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