1. Yellowstone
Yellowstone is the first National park in the world which makes it the
oldest. And was once covered in glaciers and once in seas. The first
reports of Yellowstone appeared in the early 1800’s described as a place
where mountains smoke, mud puddles boil, and waterfalls dance and
tumble in a canyon of gold. This paper will address where it is, how it got
its name, the animals that live there, and why people go there.
Yellowstone is in the northwest corner of the Wyoming territory and
spreads into Idaho and Montana. it is 3,472 square miles which makes it
bigger than Delaware and Rode island combined! It was jokingly called
“Colter’s Hell” because a guy named Colter was the one who found it. It
was by the Yellowstone river because of the yellow stone (gold) found
there. It is at the headwaters of the Yellowstone river.
Because it is so big it has a huge biodiversity. Most experts consider it
to be the megafauna wildlife in the lower 48 states. Grizzly bears, black
bears, elk, moose, bison, wolf, coyote, pronghorns, deer, eagles, trumpeter
swans, and bighorns all live in Yellowstone. It has 18 fish species,
including the Yellowstone cutthroat trout, 6 reptile species, 4 amphibian
species, and 311 bird species are all reported to be living in Yellowstone. It
also has 1,700 native tree and vascular plant species!
There are over 300 geysers in Yellowstone Park, so many that the
whole of the park is considered to be an active volcano.The park has
almost 10,000 geothermal features total, 300 geysers, and the park
experiences approximately 2000 earthquakes each year. It is also one of
the most studied hot spots in the world and it is part of the biggest
ecosystem in the northern hemisphere. It contains the largest petrified
forest on earth. Old Faithful is probably the most famous geyser on earth
and the steamboat geyser is the biggest and most active geyser in the
world. About 50% of the geothermal features on earth and over 66% of all
geysers are in Yellowstone. You can also see deep canyons, thundering
waterfalls, sparkling lakes, and vast evergreen forests broken by rolling
meadows and cross country ski in the winter. And you can soak in the
boiling river.
Now that you know what animals there are, what there is to do, and how
it got its name, you can go there and enjoy a stay at any time of the year
so start packing and head off to Yellowstone National Park!