Banff National Park is one of Canada's premiere natural wonders, covering over 2,500 square miles of mountain peaks, lakes and rivers, ancient glaciers and hot springs.
Beautiful Lake Louise is the site for the historic Banff Springs Hotel. Visitors can enjoy hundreds of miles of trails through Canada's backcountry.
At Bryce Canyon National Park, erosion has shaped colorful Claron limestones, sandstones, and mudstones into thousands of spires, finnes, pinnacles, and mazes.
Collectively called "hoodoos," these colorful and whimsical formations stand in horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters along the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in Southern Utah. -- NPS
Death Valley National Park has more than 3.3 million acres of spectacular desert scenery, interesting and rare desert wildlife, complex geology, undisturbed wilderness, and sites of historical and cultural interest.
Bounded on the west by 11,049 foot Telescope Peak and on the east by 5,475 foot Dante's View, Badwater is the lowest point (-282 feet) in the western hemisphere. -- NPS
Spanning the southern tip of the Florida peninsula and most of Florida Bay, Everglades National Park is the only subtropical preserve in North America.
The park is known for its rich bird life, particularly large wading birds, such as the roseate spoonbill, wood stork, great blue heron and a variety of egrets. -- NPS
Located entirely in northern Arizona, the park encompasses 277 miles of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands.
One of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world, Grand Canyon is unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers to visitors on the rim. -- NPS
Towering more than a mile above the valley known as Jackson Hole, the Grand Teton rises to 13,770 feet above sea level. Twelve Teton peaks reach high enough to support mountain glaciers.
In contrast to the abrupt eastern face, the west side of the range slopes gently, showing the angle of tilt of the Earth's crust. -- NPS
By Act of Congress on March 1, 1872, Yellowstone National Park was "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and "for the preservation, from injury or spoilation, of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders. . . and their retention in their natural condition."
Yellowstone is the first and oldest national park in the world. -- NPS
Yosemite National Park embraces a spectacular tract of mountain-and-valley scenery in the Sierra Nevada, which was set aside as a national park in 1890.
The park harbors a grand collection of waterfalls, meadows, and forests that include groves of giant sequoias, the world's largest living things. -- NPS
Protected within Zion National Park's 229 square miles (593.1 km) is a spectacular cliff-and-canyon landscape and wilderness full of the unexpected including the world's largest arch - Kolob Arch - with a span that measures 310 feet (94.5 m).
Wildlife such as mule deer, golden eagles, and mountain lions, also inhabit the Park. -- NPS
