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priscilla 1Best National Park Scenery
May 24th 2010 02:09
In this article on Travel and Leisure, an in depth look is taken into finding the best National Park Views in America. Below is a selection from the article.
Rumor has it that early French explorers named these mountains for the ample bosoms they were longing for back home. An easy and rewarding way to hone in on the range, according to the park’s public affairs officer, Jackie Skaggs, is to hike the eastern shore of Leigh Lake. “You’ll get stunning views of Mount Moran—the fourth highest peak in the Tetons—and the U-shaped Paintbrush Canyon.”
From the southern end of Sheep Mountain Table, you’ll get a sweeping view from the highest sod table around—those are 35 million-year-old Brule (layered sedimentary rock) and Sharps (volcanic ash) formations, along with the Cheyenne River, spread out below you. “On a clear day you can see all the way to the Black Hills, some 50 miles away,” says ranger Aaron Kaye. “Walk along the south end of the table, which is marked by a nice forested area of cedars and affords views to the valley floor about 300 feet below.”
In south central Colorado you’ll find North America’s tallest dunes and one of the area’s most varied hikes—walkers might spot everything from Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep to disk-eared pikas on the ascent up the 13,297-foot mountain. From the top, it seems all of Colorado is unfolding beneath you, including the sand dunes and the Sangre de Cristo Range. “There are no crowds any time of year,” says park ranger Patrick Meyers.
Abe Lincoln established Yosemite Valley as public land in 1864, with good reason: the area is chockablock with misty rapids, granite monoliths, and towering sequoia trees. Crowds flock by foot and car to Glacier Point, but you can catch the same view—without the hordes of gawkers—at Sentinel Dome. It’s only a one-mile hike from the valley floor, yet earns you a 360-degree view of the park (including El Capitan, Half Dome, and Yosemite Falls, the highest measured waterfall in North America).
Daniel Fagre, a U.S. Geological Survey ecologist, predicts that the remaining glaciers in Glacier National Park will have melted to a trickle by 2020—10 years sooner than earlier believed. Enjoy what remains by hiking to Hidden Lake, on the Continental Divide. You’ll pass pink and yellow monkey flowers, bear grass, and more than a few mountain goats before arriving in the midst of a 360-degree view of glacier-curved peaks, including Bearhat and Heavy Runner mountains.
Leigh Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY
Sheep Mountain Table, Badlands National Park, SD
Mount Herard, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, CO
Sentinel Dome, Yosemite National Park, CA
Hidden Lake, Glacier National Park, MT
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