National Parks and Monuments

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Helpful information and fun facts about national park service areas.

This lens provides links to detailed information about national park service sites to help you plan a trip, learn more about these special areas, and keep you informed about what you can do to help ensure that they will continue to be protected for future generations.

Want to learn about annual passes to national parks, find some key facts about the "biggest, tallest" and more, or see a few photos from parks? Just keep reading for helpful information from someone who spent 30 years as a national park ranger.

There are more than 390 separate units of America's National Park System. These sites help preserve some of our nation's finest natural and historical resources. Gas prices are up, but no matter where you live in the USA, you'll find one or more units of our national park system within a day's drive. I hope you'll visit some of them this year.

(Photo of Glacier National Park by Jim Burnett)

Links to selected sites with information about National Parks & Monuments.

Don't forget to come back to this lens for more good information if you use any of these links! (Photo courtesy of National Park Service.)

National Park Service

Official website for the National Park Service (NPS) provides in-depth information about the agency and links to websites to all units of the NPS. This is a great source of information about any unit in the national park system.

National Parks Conservation Association

For more than 80 years, the non-profit NPCA has been a watchdog on issues affecting parks and an advocate for the national parks. Learn about the threats facing our parks and how you can help.

Maps of U. S. National Parks and Monuments

Download and print maps of most units of our national park system from this site at the University of Texas. Note: you will need the free Adobe Reader software to open these .pdf files.

Recreation.gov

This is a government site provides information about federal recreation areas. Search by state, activity, agency, or by map.

National Park Sounds & Images

This official National Park Service site brings you the sights and sounds of your national parks. It includes photo galleries, web cams, natural sounds and "Views of the National Parks," with "stories of the natural, historical, and cultural wonders associated with national parks."

Untraveled Road: National Parks

This site allows you to make a "virtual trip" to 25 national parks and similar sites in 19 states by viewing over 170,000 images.

A Lens of the Month and Lens of the Day winner

This lens was selected as the "Lens of the Day" on January 31, 2007, and was voted the "#1 best content lens in the "People's Choice By Invitation Only contest" for February 2007. Thanks, Squidoo!

Some fun facts about our national park system

Largest national park site: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska: 13,200,000 acres (an area larger than New Hampshire and Vermont combined).
Smallest national park site: Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania, 0.02 acre.
First national park in the world: Yellowstone (Wyoming and Montana), established March 1, 1872
Highest elevation in North America.: Mount McKinley in Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska, 20,320 feet above sea level.
Lowest elevation in North America.: Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, 282 feet below sea level.
Highest waterfall in the U.S.: Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park California has a vertical drop of 2,425 feet.
Largest volcano on Earth: Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii) is the largest volcano both in terms of volume and height above its base. It contains about 19,000 cubic miles of lava and rises more than 50,000 feet above its base, including the portion which is beneath the ocean.
Tallest active geyser in the world: Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park can erupt to more than 300 feet.
Largest reservoir in the U.S.: Lake Mead at Lake Mead National Recreation Areas (Arizona/Nevada) has a volume of 29,000,000 acre feet when at maximum capacity.

A few books about national parks and monuments from Amazon.com

Hey Ranger!: True Tales of Humor & Misadventure from America's National Parks

by: Jim Burnett

A fun, family-friendly book by the lensmaster about the lighter side of outdoor miscues and life in the parks.

Hey Ranger! was one of the small number of books chosen by Barnes and Noble for their 2006 Father's Day Gift Guide - one of only about 250 titles out of the 1 million available through their on-line store. There's a pretty good recommendation from America's largest bookseller!

Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 11/27/2009)
List Price: $16.95

Hey Ranger 2: More True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from the Great Outdoors (No. 2)

by: Jim Burnett

The sequel to "Hey Ranger" is now available, and is a selection for the 2007 Barnes and Noble "Father's Day Gift Guide. Details about the book are on its listing on Amazon.com or at www.heyranger.com

Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 11/27/2009)
List Price: $16.95

National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of the United States, 5th Ed.

by: National Geographic Society

2006 edition of a classic guidebook to national parks.

Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
List Price: $25.00

The Last Season

by: Eric Blehm

Amazon Price: $20.71 (as of 11/27/2009)
List Price: $24.95

Frommer's National Parks with Kids (Park Guides)

by: Kurt Repanshek

Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
List Price: $19.99

What's your favorite Natural or Historic site in America's National Park System? You get to vote!

Every unit of our national park system is special for one - or many - reasons, so which areas you enjoy the most depends on a lot of things. Those factors include your personal interests - and perhaps whether you happened to visit a park on a cold, rainy day!

I'll start the list with five really great spots, including a couple you may not have heard about. Vote them up or down, or add your own favorites, and ask your friends to do the same. This poll will display the top 15 vote getters of everyone who participates.

Finally, it's hard to compare great historical sites such as Yorktown Battlefield with scenic masterpieces such as the Grand Canyon, so I've set up places below where you can vote in two categories: Historical Icons and Natural Treasures.

If you aren't sure if a favorite area is actually part of the national park system, you can verify that information on the "Official National Park Service website".

Let's start with your votes for Natural and Scenic Treasures. Here's how to vote: Click on the "add to this list" tab below. You can then type in the name of another park (just the name, you don't need a link) or click on the arrows next to existing names to move them up or down.

Let your friends who enjoy national parks know about this site. (Click on "Grab this list" below.)

Squidoo

National Parks and Monuments

Helpful information and fun facts about national park service areas.

Links to selected sites with information about National Parks & Monuments.

Don't forget to come back to this lens for more good information if you use any of these links! (Photo courtesy of National Park Service.)

A Lens of the Month and Lens of the Day winner

Some fun facts about our national park system

A few books about national parks and monuments from Amazon.com

Hey Ranger!: True Tales of Humor & Misadventure from America's National Parks

Hey Ranger 2: More True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from the Great Outdoors (No. 2)

National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of the United States, 5th Ed.

The Last Season

Frommer's National Parks with Kids (Park Guides)

What's your favorite Natural or Historic site in America's National Park System? You get to vote!

1

Glacier National Park (Montana)

2

Buffalo National River (Arkansas)

3

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina and Tennessee)

4

Olympic National Park. (Washington State)

5

Colorado National Monument (Colorado)

6

YellowStone National Park

7

http://www.ca-blog.com

8

http://www.supersmartscrapbooking.com/cricut-expression

9

Big Bend National Park (Texas)

10

http://www.valwriting.com

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila: Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

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Vote here for your favorite Historical Icons in our national park system.

The top 15 sites chosen by your fellow park fans will show up below. The list is updated every day, so check back to see the results. Click on the "Add to this list" and "Grab this list" tabs below to join in the fun.

1

Valley Forge National Historical Park , PA.

2

Colonial National Historical Park

3

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

4

Fort Davis National Historic Site - Texas

5

http://www.supersmartscrapbooking.com/cricut-machine

6

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site - Washington

7

http://www.socialphobiaworld.com

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila: Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

Here are a few of my photos of National Parks and Monuments

Click on the thumbnail views below to see a larger image

Have you visited some National Parks and Monuments?

Thanks for voting! Now invite your friends to vote.

You may also enjoy the following lenses

Here's a good source for current news and views about national parks.

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by JimB

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