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| Fun Facts About 3 Classic National Parks |
June 25, 2011
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| Yellowstone National Park |
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Established in 1872, Yellowstone is America's first National Park. Located in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. It covers 2.2 million acres. Often referred to as the Serengeti of the west, Yellowstone is home to a wide variety of wildlife. There are over 60 species of mammal, including grizzly bears, wolves and bison. Not to mention the vast diversity of amphibians, birds and reptiles that can be seen in the park. In today's developed world where people, especially young people, don't get the chance to see wildlife in "real life" very often, the experience to see wildlife in their natural habitat can be thrilling.
There are approximately 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers. Yellowstone has the highest concentration of geysers in the world. The internal heat coming from the earth is the closest to the surface in this area than it is anywhere else in the world and this is what causes these “Hot Spots”.
There are over 290 waterfalls inside the park, the most famous being Lower Falls. This 308 ft. tall waterfall is one of the most popular sites in the park, but you can get a great view of it from: Inspiration Point, Grandview Point and Lookout Point.
September is prime time for photographers as cooler air turns aspens gold, while enhancing the thermal features of the park. The elk are in rut, bears are foraging to fatten up and mammals start to sport thick winter coats.
On a six-day ALA vacation guests hike, raft, horseback ride and spa through Yellowstone at $2,298 per person double; adult-only departures are Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and 11. The lodgings used are a roster of favorites: Old Faithful Inn dating to 1904, Lake Yellowstone Hotel hearkening to 1891, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, named after nearby steaming limestone terraces; and Chico Hot Springs Resort with mineral hot spring-fed pools and spa services. Find out more on a Yellowstone Vacation
"A thousand Yellowstone wonders are calling, look up and down and round about you! "John Muir 1898
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| Black Hills of South Dakota |
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Fall is the perfect time to bike the George S. Mickelson Trail, a 109-mile abandoned railroad bed with more than 100 converted railroad bridges and four rock tunnels.
Wind Cave National Park was the first cave in the U.S. to be designated a national park. It is actually a system of complex caves, covering more than 28 acres of caves, grasslands and pine forests.
Over 90% of Mount Rushmore was carved by using dynamite. Dynamite blasts removed approximately 450,000 tons of rock from the mountain.
The Crazy Horse mountain carving now in progress will be the world’s largest sculpture (563' high, 641' long, carved in the round). It is the focal point of an educational and cultural memorial to and for the North American Indians. The gigantic Crazy Horse is the world’s only mountain carving in progress.
Activities in the Black Hills of South Dakota include biking, hiking, caving and spa time at $1,998 per person double; six-day trip departures are Sept. 4, 11 and 18. Accommodations include the century-plus Franklin Hotel in Deadwood, State Game Lodge made of stone and wood in a ponderosa pine forest, and Red Rock River Resort & Spa, with unique sandstone architecture dating back to 1891. Find out more on the Black Hills of South Dakota. |
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Bryce and Zion National Park |
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At the intersection of three separate ecosystems, Zion has a variety of plants (more than 900 species) not found anywhere else in Utah
Bryce Canyon National Park has a 7.4 limiting magnitude night sky. In most rural areas of the United States, 2,500 stars can be seen on a clear night. At Bryce Canyon, 7,500 stars can be seen twinkling in the void.
# 5 in National Geographic’s ranking of America's Best 100 Adventures is hiking the Narrows of Zion’s Virgin River, a gorge 16 miles long, up to 2,000 feet deep, and at times only 20-30 feet wide. With flash floods a concern, the fall is the best time to experience it.
At Weeping Rock, the water that emerges took 1,000 years to travel through the rock from a spring.
ALA guests bike and hike through Utah’s Bryce & Zion National Parks at $2,098 per person double; six-day departures are Sept. 18, Sept. 25, Oct. 2 and 9. Overnights are at Seven Wives Inn, Utah's first bed and breakfast and a restored Victorian (the innkeeper's ancestor really did have seven wives), Bryce Canyon Lodge, built in the 1920s with replicas of original hickory furniture, and Zion Park Inn with its Great Room fire place and an outdoor heated pool. Find out more about Bryce/Zion |
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T+L World's Best Awards
ALA was again recognized as one of the World's Best Tour Operators and Safari Outfitters in 2010 by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine.
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ALA Adventure Blog
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The "Art Of Packing" with Carol Austin
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A few more reasons why you've gotta go...
1. The scenery: a high-desert spectacle of rock formations and river-carved canyons, Southern Utah is a photographer's dream.
2. The ice cream surprise at the top of Angel's Landing: hot and hungry from a hike, it's a gift from the heavens!
3. The star gazing: due to altitude and lack of air and light pollution, star gazing in Bryce and Zion is considered the finest in the Continental U.S.
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| Canyonlands |
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Canyonlands National Park: an intense palette of reds, yellows, oranges and browns, home to over 500-square miles of steep, river-carved canyons, sprawling mesas, buff sandstone pillars and spectacular natural arches.
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| Yosemite |
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Stand at the base of a tumbling 2,425-foot waterfall, a soaring 8,842-foot granite dome and experience for yourself why John Muir described Yosemite as “…by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter.”
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| San juan islands |
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There’s hardly a setting more peaceful than Washington State’s San Juan Islands. Hike, bike, boat, kayak and horseback ride on San Juan, Orcas and Lopez, three of the larger islands of this spectacular 100 million year old archipelago
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Travel + Leisure 
Outside Magazine
National Geographic Traveler 
