Scenic splendours
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FOR THOSE WITH A LOVE OF THE GREAT OUTDOORS, AMERICA'S VAST TRACTS OF WILDERNESS ARE WRIT LARGE ON THE MOST SCENIC OF NATURAL CANVASES
than 7,000 other protected areas in the USA, which encompass everything from state and national forests to state parks, monuments, mountains, preserves, scenic rivers and wildlife and wilderness areas. In fact almost 400 parks and other areas covering 84 million acres are under the care of the US National Park Service. Although the national parks
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span 27 states, the state parks and other protected areas are spread throughout all 50 states and make great places to enjoy on a driving tour. Spend a day leisurely exploring or immerse yourself in nature on a get-away- from-it-all hiking or biking holiday.
PROTECTED SPLENDOUR National and state parks are America’s favourite getaways, but if you think that would lead to them being mostly overcrowded, think again. While the most popular areas will always attract crowds, most of the parks are so huge that you can always find secluded areas to enjoy Mother Nature in peace. The most-visited national park is
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina. It attracted more than nine million visits in 2011, over twice as many as the next most popular – Arizona’s awe- inspiring Grand Canyon – which had 4.3 million visits. California’s Yosemite was the
third most popular national park, followed by Yellowstone (which sprawls over Wyoming, Montana and Idaho), Rocky Mountain (Colorado), Olympic (Washington), Zion (Utah), Grand Teton (Wyoming), Acadia (Maine) and Cuyahoga Valley (Ohio). However, not all parks are
national parks. The most popular of all the USA's parks was the Blue Ridge Parkway, in North
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"More than 4.5 million acres of National Parks Service-managed areas are oceans, lakes and reservoirs, including Florida's Biscayne National Park"
Carolina and Virginia, with over 15 million visits. Next most visited was San Francisco’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area with 14.6 million. Lake Mead National Recreation Area (Nevada and Arizona), the Natchez Trace Parkway (Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee) and the Gulf Islands National Seashore (Florida and Mississippi) all chalked up more than five million visits. America’s lawmakers have long
recognised the need to preserve and conserve the country’s scenic
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splendours – and its first national park remains one of the best known. Yellowstone became the country's first national park in 1872 after being signed into law by President Ulysses S Grant for natural wonders that include hot springs, geysers such as Old Faithful, crystal-clear waterfalls and beautiful rock formations. It
esides its 58 officially- designated national parks, there are more
Pictured: Above – Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park, West Virginia Opposite – Lake Quachita in Arkansas
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