National Parks in the USA – my Favorite Travel Destination

Hello, nice to be read by you!

     Today I am going to write about my favorite travel destination in the USA. No, it is neither New York nor Hollywood! Since my uncle showed me some pictures and told me stories about his adventures in the western US, my dream is to discover the National, Navajo Tribal and the State parks of Northern America. Unfortunately, I have never been to the US but as soon as it is possible for me I will arrange a flight to these very special and wonderful places. 

The United States has 59 national parks. These are protected areas which the National Park Service is responsible for. (For some people who are interested in politics, the NPS is an agency of the Department of the Interior. I added this information because at the end of this entry I will add some important facts which had happened in the near past with the parks, politics, and tourists.) The Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872 – as America’s first national park, since then the idea of protecting the natural monuments, beautiful landscapes, and impressing canyons, spread all over the world. At first you have to know, that there are three categories for these areas:

1.  National parks, as I mentioned before, the NPS is responsible for it. The most famous national parks are Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Yellowstone, and the Bryce Canyon.

http://www.nationalparks.org/explore-parks/grand-canyon-national-park?gclid=CISEjrry37oCFRMctAodjmYAtw

Bryce Canyon

2. Navajo Tribal parks, these areas belong to the Navajo Tribal and are private. The Monument Valley and the Antelope Canyon are wonderful examples.http://navajonationparks.org/parks.htm

Antelope Canyon

3. State parks, for example the Dead Horse Point in Utah is very imposing. http://www.stateparks.utah.gov/park/dead-horse-point-state-park

Dead Horse Point

      For me it is important to see landscapes with mountains and canyons, their different shapes, colors, and geological history. This is the reason why I prefer the national, tribal, and state parks in the western US.

     As my uncle told me, you can buy a ticket for all kinds of parks for just 80 $ and it is valid for a whole year. He also said that the tours which lead through the parks are highly recommendable. As far as I know he rent a car and drove to these parks all by himself, he passed several cities for example Denver, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. Three cities, which are beautiful and an absolute “must see” on my “US tour”. Of course you need a lot of time to travel through the countries but if you are clever and a little bit forward-thinking you will be able to do a lot of sightseeing within three weeks.

Shutdown in the US!!!

     In October 2013 there was a shutdown all over the US because the states have too many arrears and were bankrupt. As a result the politicians decided to close ministries and authorities, which means that for 16 days all the employees had to go on “unpaid” holidays. Also the NPS had to close their parks; no one was allowed to visit the national parks and camping sites. But the NPS is also responsible for the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Alcatraz in the bay of San Francisco, or the Lincoln Memorial in Washington and these sights were also closed. I think this shutdown was not a quite good thing because it costs the US BILLIONS of US$!!!

     My uncle was in the US during the shutdown and at first he didn’t know what to do, because his and all the plans of the other tourists where blown away – but then he remembered that only the national parks were closed and NOT the state parks and the Navajo Tribal parks. Therefore he made new arrangements and had a beautiful journey. Luckily, he had been several times in the US before and had already seen these special places so it was not such a bad thing for him.

     In spite of the shutdown and the financial crisis, which the USA has, I really want to see these natural spectacles and I think everyone should at least visit one of the parks because my uncle told me that when he entered the Yellowstone National Park he didn’t know if he was just dreaming or if he has just landed somewhere in outer space, it was so overwhelming that I can see this sparkle in his eyes every time he is talking about this special journey. 

If I have found here some kindred spirits here are some videos you might like ;)

SueC :)