Virgin Islands National Park, St. John, USVI Let’s say you’re the warm-blooded type who’s prone to prefer a tropical getaway. Well, there’s a park for that. And we’re not talking about flying all the way to the National Park of American Samoa. Much, much closer by and easier to access is the Virgin Islands National Park, located on the warm and sunny island of St. John. Since Columbus first sighted the group of islands and named it after St. Ursula’s legendary virgin martyrs, Spain, France, Holland, England, Denmark, and the United States each have claimed various of the islands at different times. The Danes undertook serious colonization of the islands in the 17th century and for more than a century they maintained a network of nearly 90 plantations to cultivate sugar cane and cotton. Fearful that Germany might try to capture the islands during World War I, the United States purchased St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix from Denmark for $25 million. In 1956, conservationist billionaire Laurance S. Rockefeller funded a 5,000-acre national park on St. John. In 1962 the park acquired an additional 5,650 undersea acres off the northern and southern coasts to protect reef systems and marine life. Today, the 15, 135-acre national park occupies more than half the island of St. John.
Great Basin National Park.
Great Basin National Park, Nevada From the limestone depths of the Lehman Caves, to sagebrush covered hillsides, to the 13,068-foot summit of Wheeler Peak—Great Basin National Park hosts a sampling of the remarkable diversity of Nevada’s remote and expansive 190,000-square- mile Great Basin region. When we speak of this park’s diversity, we aren’t kidding. In this 77,000-acre preserve—where hot desert valleys meet snow-covered mountain ranges—you’ll find the following: 11 species of conifer trees, including the park’s signature bristlecone pines, the world’s oldest tree. As for mammals, there are 73 species, ranging from shrews to mountain lions, with jackrabbits being the most common. Reptiles? Of course, totaling 18 species, along with 283 species of birds, 8 kinds of fish, and more than 800 plant species. Some of the activities available to the park’s 140,000 annual visitors include driving the 12-mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive; joining a ranger-guided tour of Lehman Caves to view a spectacular array of colorful limestone formations such as stalagmites, stalactites, flowstones, and shields; hiking the 2.8-mile Bristle Pine Trail for a close-up look at the ancient conifers that can live more than 4,000 years; enjoying a picnic lunch at Pole Canyon Picnic Area, and casting for trout on Lehman or Baker Creek.
St. John’s tempting tropical beaches and crystalline
www.nps.gov/grba | 775-234-7331
Virgin Islands National Park.
LONELIEST NATIONAL PARKS
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