National Parks Zone

26/04/2022

This mountain goat seemed to pose for me in Glacier Bay National Park. In reality I was on a boat tour and he was up on the side of the mountain. You can see more pictures like this and descriptions and photos taken in 62 out of the 63 national parks at https://www.nationalparkszone.com

03/02/2022

The Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, on the Arizona-Utah border, is a place with some of the most magnificent desert scenery. These pictures come from a hike to a formation called The Wave. You can read about it, and see more pictures like these, on my website https://www.NationalParksZone.com or simply type np.zone into the address bar and scroll down to click on Vermillion Cliffs National Monument - The Wave.

13/12/2021

Yellowstone is the gem of the National Parks System. So much to see and do and so much beauty. I was caught in a buffalo jam and got out to take a picture of this big bull. When I snapped the picture he stopped and slowly turned his head towards me. I realized then that I had invaded his space and got back into the car. The picture of Yellowstone's Lower Falls was taken at, the aptly named, Artist's Point. The other picture is of one of the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs.

10/12/2021

16/11/2021

These are pictures from Big Bend National Park in Texas. Tarantulas are all over and tend to cross the roadway's all too often much to their detriment. This guy made it across and lived to cross another day. The balanced rock is on the Grapevine Hills hike and it a natural phenomenon - apparently rolled down the hill to the right and landed just right. You can see more pictures of Big Bend at https://www.nationalparkszone.com/bigbendgallery.html

20/10/2021

These are pictures of Arizona's Antelope Canyon - the southwest's most famous slot canyon. You can read about it and see more pictures like these at https://www.nationalparkszone.com/antelopecanyon.html
If you just want to see the pictures then click on the 'Photos' link on that webpage.

13/08/2021

Death Valley's Racetrack is a dry lake bed where stones move around when no one is looking. Explanations range from the supernatural to aliens to rain, ice and wind. It is a 26 mile drive into the back country to get to The Racetrack - 4WD recommended - but worth the trip. (Personally, I lean towards aliens 🙂)

14/06/2021

In Denali National Park we saw this moose and her calf. There were about 20 people taking pictures and they all were too close. A ranger would have not allowed it. I looked around and decided that I could probably run faster than any of them and took my pictures. You only have to be faster than one person they say.

13/05/2021

The Angel's Landing hike is Zion's most famous and most dangerous hike. If you have a serious fear of heights this is not a hike you should take. If you don't have that kind of fear the hike is quite a thrill but does require care, concentration and staying on the trail. If you plan to hike it, start out early because the traffic is such that the park's service is considering a permit system to limit the number of people on the trail. Over 330,000 people hiked this trail last year. The first two miles is paved and practically wheelchair accessible. The last half mile is where you encounter the chains which can help you pull yourself up steep sections and which also act as a handrail on the narrow sections with steep drop-offs which can exceed 1,000 feet. The number of fatalities is imprecise depending on the source. The sign at the trailhead was recently updated to reflect 8 since 2004 - not counting suspicious deaths. Other sources have detailed 15-17.

26/02/2021

In the spring of 2018 Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano erupted. The infamous
fissure #8, a fixture on the nightly news, spewed lava for 3 months and
wreaked havoc on the surrounding area. These photos and videos were taken on a helicopter tour that we took in June, 2018 so we could see this event close up. Subsequent to our tour a lava explosion from the volcano caused a soccer-sized 'lava bomb' to hit a tour boat injuring 23 people, 4
seriously. Whether this 'lava bomb' originated from the fissure itself or
lava flowing into the sea is unknown. In either case this caused the Coast
Guard to enlarge the recommended perimeter for both boat and helicopter tours.

20/01/2021

The finish line for the Kennecott-McCarthy half-marathon. The town of McCarthy, Alaska was featured on the Discovery Channel's show 'Edge
of Alaska'.

20/01/2021

While we were in Wrangell-St. Elias they had the Kennecott-McCarthy half-marathon.

20/01/2021

If you visit Wrangell-St. Elias you can either stay in McCarthy, at the Ma Johnson Hotel or the Kennecott Lodge which is the
national parks lodge for Wrangell located in the old mining town of Kennecott, Alaska.

20/01/2021

Photos from McCarthy, Alaska in Wrangell-St.Elias National Park. This is the best of the two roads that lead into Wrangell. It is the only one that leads to McCarthy and Kennecott which is where the national park's lodge is.

Our National Parks are truly America's best idea. Explore the beauty of these truly unique places that have been preserved for the enjoyment of all.

01/01/2021

At the visitor center at Theodore Roosevelt National Park the Park Service had this humorous sign to try to keep people from thinking bison are just big, dumb, benign creatures instead of the dangerous wild animals that they are. September, 2019 — at Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit.

01/01/2021

Theodore Roosevelt National Park has plenty of resident bison... which should not be looked at as benign cow-like creatures but as wild animals that can do harm. In Yellowstone more people get gored by bison than attacked by bears! September, 2019 — at Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit.

01/01/2021

Photos of wildlife found in America's National Parks

01/01/2021

The Hidden Lake trail is located behind the Logan Pass Visitor Center which is right on the Continental Divide. It is an easy out-and-back hike that has, as you can see, spectacular scenery as well as mountain goats, bighorn sheep and grizzly bears. September, 2019 — at Glacier National Park.

01/01/2021

Photos of some of the beautiful scenery found in our National Parks and Monuments

01/01/2021

If you've seen the History Channel's series "Ice Road Truckers" then you know the Dalton Highway. If not, it's 500 miles of a road that is dirt, rocks, mud and potholes through a remote wilderness driven by few people other than the truckers hauling supplies to the oil fields in Prudhoe Bay. — at Atigun Pass, Dalton Highway, Alaska, August 2000.

19/12/2020

This is another compilation of some of the clips from our jeep tour of Hell's Revenge. It's not Moab's toughest back road driving but it is up there. Slickrock may look smooth but actually is very uneven. You can see the jeep rocking side to side. Jo Ann did her best holding the camera up with one hand and holding on for dear life with the other. More than once the only thing videod was the dashboard or the floor. I hope it doesn't make you too dizzy.

19/12/2020

This video was taken in a place called Hell's Revenge which is just outside Moab, Utah in 2012. I rented a Jeep Rubicon from Outlaw Jeep Rentals and the owner guided me and another jeep for a 2-hour white knuckle drive. By the time we finished my hands were black from the driving gloves gripping the wheel and my shoulders and upper back sore from the tension. I've driven over a thousand miles on dirt roads out west but nothing like this. It was a bit more than I bargained for. The video opens climbing up a sandstone fin and riding up the fin. This keeps out the car rental agency SUV's which would never make it up onto the fin. Those SUV's are basically shopping carts which are made for trips to Walmart and not for real off-road driving,

18/12/2020

The Balanced Rock is in Utah's Arches National Park. The rock is estimated at 3,600 tons (4 million kg) and will come tumbling down one day as the thinning neck erodes away. It is one of many reasons to visit Arches National Park (and across the highway is Canyonlands National Park).

18/12/2020

Photos of some of the beautiful scenery found in our National Parks and Monuments

Dirty Devil Gorge off U.S. highway 95 in southern Utah 2012. It is in one of the most remote parts of the lower 48 states.

18/11/2020

Photos of some of the beautiful scenery found in our National Parks and Monuments

16/09/2020

If you want to see the most beautiful places in America then visit some of our national parks. My website is your quick start guide to planning a visit.

29/08/2020

28/08/2020

28/08/2020