national parks

11 Phenomena of America's National Parks

05 September 2019

America's federally preserved lands are some of our most amazing national treasures.

America's national parks are beloved treasures. They're time capsules of macro-scale history, invaluable containers of biodiversity, and emblems of the natural world's raw power. Though infinite numbers of miraculous things can be found in the nation's 61 national parks, here are eleven that you can't miss on your next road trip.

As one of the most popular attractions in Yellowstone, the Grand Prismatic Spring has an impressive legacy to uphold. Deeper than a 10-story building and larger than a football field, its size alone is enough to ensure that it lives up to the hype; and then there's the color, an iconic shade of unearthly blue.
The spring has more to offer than appearances alone. A microbe discovered in it in 1968 was later used to help complete the sequencing of the human genome. NASA has also studied it extensively, using it as a way to learn more about extraterrestrial life, as well as primordial life on Earth, as its conditions may be similar to some of the environments where life first appeared on our planet.
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Every summer in Tennessee, the fireflies come together for a couple wild nights.
Thousands of visitors embark on a journey to the Smoky Mountains each summer to witness the ritualistic gathering of the Elkmont fireflies, which lasts for about two weeks. The occasion falls at varying times on the calendar, usually late spring or early summer, and though the gathering seems choreographed, no one really knows for sure why the fireflies come together. Some think that it's a mating ritual or competition to see who can glow the brightest, but the true cause of the event remains a mystery.
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Yosemite Firefall
Yosemite contains numerous stunning waterfalls, but Horsetail Falls might be one of the most impressive of them all—especially when it puts on its annual light show. For two weeks in February, the planets align and the setting suns catches fire on the water, creating the illusion known as a "firefall."
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This towering creature is the world's largest tree. It stands 275 feet tall, is over 36 feet wide, and it's the crown jewel of the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park. At somewhere between 2,000 to 2,500 years old, the tree has seen the rise of human civilization, and thankfully it's on protected land—so hopefully it will outlive the fall of mankind, too.
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This ruby red firebrand is located on the southeastern edge of the island of Hawai'i. Its name means "spewing" and "much spreading," an apt moniker for the still-active shield volcano, which is one of the most active in the world. Its last eruption happened in May 2018, but you never know when that scarlet lava will start spewing again.
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The unmistakable stone pillars that line Utah's Bryce Canyon are known as "hoodoos." (Other names include "tent rock," "fairy chimney," and "earth pyramid.") These oddly humanoid formations are the products of frost weathering and thousands of years of gentle erosion by streams, revealing just how precise and methodical the elements can be over time.
The canyon's relatively remote location makes it less popular than the nearby Zion, but it's still an iconic attraction for adventurers lured in by the pull of one of the country's most psychedelic and alien landscapes.
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The Earth's largest and oldest living organism is a tree.
A collection of aspens, to be precise. Located in Utah, this perpetually trembling forest is unique because each tree is genetically identical, connected by a web of roots that all link up with each other—meaning that what appears to be a collection of individual aspens is actually a single living thing. Known as Pando, this collection of entangled roots is the world's single most gigantic living thing, a scientific miracle that perhaps could teach us a thing or two about life. (It's also slowly shrinking).
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It's hard to catch a glimpse of a true night sky anymore. Our lights have clouded away so much of the stars, and few truly dark places remain anymore. The Great Basin National Park in Nevada is an exception. Located off the so-called Loneliest Highway five hours north of Las Vegas, this park has one of the darkest skies in the United States, making it the perfect place to take in the stars' full glory. On moonless nights, you can see meteors, five planets, man-made satellites, the Andromeda Galaxy, and of course, the Milky Way.
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Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park is a kaleidoscope of ecosystems and natural wonders, and at the center is the swirling blue web of the Exit Glacier. Fed by the intriguingly named Resurrection River, the glacier is one of the few that can be seen from the road in the state, and it's also rapidly receding due to climate change, so catch it while you still can.
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America's wild landscapes draw easy comparisons to religious spaces—they both seem to have a direct link to the divine, if you believe in any iteration of it at all—and so it goes with Utah's Cathedral Valley rock formations. You can drive in a full, 360-degree loop to catch a glimpse of every angle.
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As the nation's hottest, driest, and lowest location, California's Death Valley is the birthplace of many legends (and certainly has hosted its share of transcendental experiences). Found on the northern edge of the Mojave Desert, the desert has recorded temperatures as high as 134 degrees, the hottest on record for America.
The park itself contains a multitude of wonders—from the multicolored stones of Zabriskie Point, pictured above, to snow-capped mountain ranges, to vast, blisteringly hot sand dunes.
The valley has also been the site of a number of strange disappearances, many of which have never been explained. For example, in 1996, four German tourists entered the park and never came out. Later, their abandoned mini-van was discovered miles away from the trail, but there were no wallets, keys, or passports inside. Then in 1998, five women who were part of a New Age shamanic cult entered the desert and never reappeared. These are just a few of the many strange, mysterious missing person cases based in the park, which have resulted in a multitude of conspiracy theories. (Aliens, of course, made the list, given the location's proximity to good old Area 51).
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