Scenic splendours
Pictured: Clockwise – Elephant Butte Lake State Park, New Mexico; Turkey Run State Park, Indiana; Valley of Fire, Indiana
was followed in 1890 by the creation of California’s Sequoia and Yosemite national parks, while the National Park Service came into being in 1916. Remote, rugged and almost
totally unspoilt, Alaska is home to the four largest national parks, including the biggest of them all, Wrangell-St Elias National Park – at eight million acres (13 million including the adjacent preserve), it is larger than nine US states. But not all are vast. Arkansas' Hot Springs covers just 6,000 acres. And while most people might
associate national and state parks with towering mountains, magnificent forests or arid deserts, more than 4.5 million acres of NPS-managed areas are oceans, lakes and reservoirs, including Florida’s Biscayne National Park. Most of its 173,000 acres is
covered by water and it spans coral reefs, islands and marine habitats at the northern end of the Florida Keys, where visitors can snorkel or dive in its clear waters alongside dazzling fish. From above water, you might be lucky to catch a glimpse of a shy manatee in the wild. The best time to see them is in winter.
CREATURE COMFORTS Other wildlife can be viewed at parks throughout the country. Black and brown bears are commonplace in many (Great Smoky Mountains is noted for its brown bears), but if it is grizzlies you want, try Montana’s Glacier National Park or Alaska’s Denali National Park, where you can also see moose and caribou. Watching bison on the grasslands of
Yellowstone gives an idea of how the Great Plains must have looked when they were widespread. You might also see wolves,
reintroduced in 1995 in Yellowstone and the park's Lamar Valley is the best place to look out for them. For alligators, take an airboat
trip through America’s largest subtropical wilderness, the Florida Everglades, or explore Alabama’s delta region. Brightly-coloured
tropical birds such as honeycreepers are attracted by the lush vegetation of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, home to the world’s most active volcano, Kilauea, and on the volcanic slopes of Haleakala National Park on Maui. The iconic giant cacti of
Arizona’s Saguaro National Park provide roosts for resourceful birds, while the desert below is
Carefree NEW Visit the USA with
Worldwide Motorhome Touring Holidays
2013/14 BROCHURE OUT NOW!
Call to request your free copy 024 7647 5340
www.motorhometouringholidays.co.uk
15248_Carefree_USA_Fractional_Oct.indd 1 26/09/2012 12:21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68