Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park sits on the top of the Appalachian Mountains’ Blue Ridge Range. Skyline Drive runs for 105 miles through the park along the crest of the Blue Ridge, and the views from its 75 overlooks are more like those seen from a plane than a car. We spent four days in the park being awe-inspired and humbled by the views while hiking several trails, with a focus on Shenandoah’s waterfalls.
This week we are traveling through Michigan to Isle Royale National Park. Since we are in the Northern U.S., here is a quiz to test your skill in determining the northernmost city among four options.
One of the largest protected areas east of the Mississippi River, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a hikers paradise lying in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Within the park boundaries, there about 900 miles of hiking paths, including the famous Appalachian Trail. We spent a week hiking on a variety of trails and visiting four places in or adjacent to the 522,000 acre park.
This week’s Tuesday Quiz is a multiple choice matching test. Given a national park, can you match it to the correct state?
Congaree is one of America’s newest national parks, becoming the 58th such protected area in 2003. Comprised of 26,276 acres, Congaree protects the largest intact old-growth bottomless hardwood forest in the U.S. We spent two days in the park’s swampy floodplain forest exploring several trails and camping in a primitive campsite.
As we continue our Trekking the Planet NPS travels around the country, here is a quiz all about the United States. There are 16 questions to test your U.S. knowledge.
A high-speed catamaran voyage of 70 miles each way along the Gulf of Mexico, exploration of a massive brick fort complete with a moat around it, and snorkeling underwater among the tropical coral and fish? We spent a day doing all of these things during our time in Dry Tortugas National Park, one of the remote parks in the lower 48 United States.
This week’s Tuesday Quiz gives you three minutes to click on every state that has at least one national park. It can get tricky – some U.S. National Parks are located in more than one state.
Twenty-one miles east of the Everglades and just north of the island of Key Largo lies Biscayne National Park. It is the largest protected marine national park in the United States. With 95% of the park on the water, we booked a full-day sailing trip to travel across Biscayne Bay and set foot on one of its keys.
Everglades National Park protects the largest tropical wilderness in the United States. It is a mosaic of marshes, creeks, prairies, and forests, with a abundance of wildlife. And it is the only place in the world where the alligator and crocodiles both roam. We spent four days exploring the park, the third largest in the lower 48 states and covering the entire southwest tip of Florida.
Our Tuesday Quiz this week is from National Geographic. Ten questions test your knowledge of the United States. The questions include history, culture and geography. How well do you know the U.S.?
Here are some panoramic photos that we took of the national parks and national monuments that we visited. Click on any of the pictures for a larger view. Enjoy!
