Exalting adventures in our national parks await you. As we start planning your guided vacation or self-guided tour among these protected lands, discover some fun and intriguing facts before you go.
Did you know?
While there are 62 official national parks in the United States, the entire national park system actually encompasses 423 sites that include wild and scenic rivers, lakeshores and recreation areas, and natural and historic places.
Yellowstone National Park may be America’s first national park, signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. But did you know Hot Springs National Park predates it as the nation’s first protected land? This 5,000-acre space — home to 47 natural springs — was designated as a reservation in 1832, and became a national park in 1921.
Extraordinary biodiversity exits within more than 26,000 acres of Congaree National Park in South Carolina. It’s the largest old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the country and, come late May and early June, thousands of fireflies light up in synchronicity in a brilliant display.
The gleaming white terrain of White Sands National Park in New Mexico is America’s newest national park. What makes it so unique? Well, it’s not sand in the way you imagine it. Rising from the Tularosa Basin, this is actually the world’s largest gypsum dune field.
As the hottest, driest, lowest place in North America, Death Valley National Park may sound inhospitable, but even in summer it’s wide open and welcoming (bring plenty of water and sunscreen!). The hottest temperature ever recorded at Furnace Creek was 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913.
For half of the year between October and March, you can catch the very first sunrise in the United States from a mountaintop in Maine. Cadillac Mountain rises 1,530 feet in Acadia National Park and is the highest point on the North Atlantic seaboard.
Only accessible by boat or seaplane Dry Tortugas National Park is one of the least visited national parks in the country. This collection of seven islands is reachable from the Florida Keys, and amazingly, nearly 99% of it is underwater.
Curious to know more?
We can arrange an expertly guided journey through protected lands or reserve your luxury hotel stay on your own curated park vacation. Visit our website and enter OFFER M22556 to discover more.
Image by David Mark from Pixabay
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