Geography Presentation
America's National Parks
Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming, was the world's first national park.
This is the Roosevelt Arch. President Teddy Roosevelt placed the cornerstone here.
Orangespring Mound
Castle Geyser
Old Faithful erupts, faithfully, every
91 minutes.
Yellowstone National Park is home to the
Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano
in North America. The caldera is considered an
active volcano; it has erupted with tremendous
force several times in the last two million years.
Half of the world's geothermal features are in
Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism.
Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions
cover most of the land area of Yellowstone.
Grand Prismatic Spring
Although it's one of America's most beautiful
parks, Yellowstone is still prone to one
particular type of natural disaster: wildfire.
Yosemite
Yosemite National Park is located in the central Sierra Nevada of
California. It takes approximately 3.5 hours to drive to the park
from San Francisco, and approximately 6 hours from Los Angeles.
The 1,189 sq mi park is roughly the size of Rhode Island and
contains thousands of lakes and ponds, 1,600 miles of streams,
800 miles of hiking trails, and 350 miles of roads. Two federally
designated Wild and Scenic Rivers, the Merced and the Tuolumne,
begin within Yosemite's borders and flow westward through the
Sierra foothills, into the Central Valley of California. Annual park
visitation exceeds 3.5 million, with most visitor use concentrated
in the seven square mile area of Yosemite Valley.
Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite
cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and
biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated
wilderness.
Merced River
Half Dome
El Capitan
Bridal Vail Falls
Mule Deer
Buck
Black Bear
Yosemite Marmot
President Theodore
Roosevelt and naturalist
John Muir overlooking
Yosemite's Bridal Vail Falls.
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon National Park is one of the
United States' oldest national parks and
is located in Arizona. Within the park lies
the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the
Colorado River, considered to be one of
the major natural wonders of the world.
The park covers 1,902 mi².
Grand Canyon from space
The Skywalk
Grand Canyon Post Office, located on the floor of the canyon.
Banff National Park, Canada
Banff National Park is located In Canada, on Alberta's
western border with British Columbia. Banff is about an
hour and half driving distance from Calgary, and four
hours from Edmonton.
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park,
established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park
encompasses 2,564 sq mi of mountainous terrain, with
numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest,
and alpine landscapes.
Badlands National Park is located in South Dakota, just miles from Mount Rushmore
National Monument.
Arches National Park
Arches National Park is a U.S. national park in eastern Utah.
It is known for preserving over 2000 natural sandstone
arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in
addition to a variety of unique geological resources and
formations.
The park is located near Moab, Utah, and is 119 square
miles in size. Its highest elevation is 5,653 feet at Elephant
Butte, and its lowest elevation is 4,085 feet at the visitor
center. Since 1970, forty-three arches have toppled because
of erosion. The park receives 10 inches of rain a year on
average.
Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United
States. Contained within the park is Bryce Canyon. Despite its name, this is not actually a
canyon, but rather a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side
of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.