GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK
“With historic attractions, hiking, scenic vantage points and hazy mountains as far as the eye can see, the Smokies have something for everyone. We arrived to discover nature’s undisturbed moments and some pleasant surprises: peaceful glances with a black bear; elk dashing through the forest; and the calls of birds we couldn’t identify. Our travels led to sprawling landscapes and quiet hikes along streams, rivers, and my favorite of all— cascading waterfalls.” —Karen Kleimann Wyckoff
“The Ancestral Puebloans who lived here left no written records, but the elaborate structures they built here bespeak a resourceful civilization—centuries before Columbus. My Mom and I gamely hiked a Park Rangerguided tour, visiting the millennium-old Cliff Palace. We stayed at the park’s lodge, ate buffalo and quail for the first time, and enjoyed the full moon. It was a perfect bonding experience.” —Rita Guarna Wood-Ridge
Location: North Carolina and Tennessee border Established: 1934 Acres: 522,419 Annual visitors: 9 million The Great Smoky Mountains are the most-visited national park in the country.
Location: Montezuma County, Colorado Established: 1906 Acres: 52,485 Annual visitors: 584,000 Mesa Verde is known for its Cliff Palace, believed to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America.
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OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
“The park is vast, diverse and unforgettable. Within it is the Hoh Rainforest—it isn’t Walden but it easily could’ve been the land that inspired Thoreau. Then there’s the coastline, where forest meets ocean. Few things in nature are more dramatic than hearing the Pacific from within a dense forest, then coming to the clearing to see the waves crashing against the driftwoodlined beach. It’s a real aweinspiring experience.” —Darius Amos Westwood
“Two things stand out in my memory when I think about Yosemite: its unparalleled beauty and its unparalleled crowds. I was deeply moved by the way in which the park bound so many different groups of people together simply through an appreciation of the natural world. Ultimately, visiting Yosemite taught me that nature really is the greatest tourist attraction in the world.” —Ted Siegel Ridgefield
Location: Olympic Peninsula, Washington Established: 1938 Acres: 922,650 Annual visitors: 3.3 million The park consists of three distinct eco-systems: subalpine forest and wildflower meadow, temperate forest and Pacific shore.
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Location: Northern California Established: 1890 Acres: 748,436 Annual visitors: 5 million Part of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, some of Yosemite’s peaks reach 8,000 feet above sea level, including the famed granite formation Half Dome.
JUNE/JULY 2017
5/12/17 3:19 PM