Scenic splendours
home to wildlife ranging from rattlesnakes to kangaroo rats. Big Bend, in Texas, is home to 425 bird species, more than any other national park. Washington’s Olympic National
Park has the world’s largest population of Roosevelt elk amidst its scenery of Pacific coastal rainforest and glacier- topped mountains. Go on whale-watching trips to
see denizens of the deep including humpbacks and grey whales off Maine’s Acadia and California’s Channel Islands, as well as in Alaska’s Glacier Bay, where you can also watch glaciers crumbling – or 'calving' – into the bay. On land, marvel at nature’s giants particularly the mighty timeless redwoods and sequoia trees found in Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Redwood national parks.
Big faces, big places
BLAZING A TRAIL There are many ways to enjoy America’s natural wonders. Sleep under canvas in over 200,000 state park campsites, bed down in traditional log cabins or spend the night in historic hotels and lodges surrounded by some stunning scenery. When you wake, you can hit a
trail to go exploring – there’s almost 40,000 miles of them. Among them are long-distance routes such as the Appalachian Trail, which follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains for over 2,000 miles through 14 states between Georgia and Maine, passing by New Hampshire’s 6,288ft Mt Washington. Another long- distance option is the Katy Trail
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Gutzon Borglum's enormous national monument in South Dakota is a huge draw for tourists. Three million visitors a year travel to Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills to see the giant carved faces of four ex-presidents tower nearly 6,000 feet above the Dakota landscape. There are several displays and museums on site to help visitors get a feel for the scale of the project and its rich history. Tours are also available. For a full list of state parks in the USA see
www.stateparks.com/usa
"See denizens of the deep, including humpbacks and grey whales, off Maine's Acadia Island, California's Channel Islands and in Alaska's Glacier Bay"
State Park in Missouri, at 238 miles the nation's longest rail-trail project and built especially for walkers and cyclists. Get on the rails to enjoy spectacular scenery on heritage train excursions such as the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams, Arizona, to the Canyon’s South Rim, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad through Colorado’s San Juan National Forest, or the Pacific Northwest’s longest continuously operating steam train, Washington’s Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad, through the Cascade Mountains foothills. There’s a natural wonder in
every state: South Dakota’s Badlands; Utah’s haunting
www.visitusa.org.uk
Monument Valley, the western- style Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park; California’s Death Valley desertscape; the subterranean wonders of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico; Michigan’s remote Isle Royale in Lake Superior; Wyoming’s jagged Grand Teton; and the mighty Niagara Falls. You’ll understand what they mean by ‘the Big Country.’
Pictured: Clockwise – Black bears in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which straddles North Carolina and Tennessee; Timberwolves are indigenous to Minnesota; A hawk glides on a thermal over the Poconos, Pennsylvania; White Sands National Park, New Mexico
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