Parks are science labs full of lessons
Geological, ecological marvels on display
Interest in national parks is booming, with crowd-wary Americans drawn to wide open spaces and natural beauty. But the preserves are also a great place for learning, says Emily Hoff and Maygen Keller, authors of the new book “Scenic Science of the National Parks” (10 Speed, $24.99). “Parks provide fantastic laboratories for getting up close to the natural world,” Hoff says. The authors share some favorite sites with USA TODAY.
This rugged park preserves an ancient ocean reef, which later rose to form the highest point in Texas. Now visitors can easily find fossilized sponges and algae as they hike through the high desert scenery. “These mountains are very different than you’d see anywhere else in the continental U.S.,” Hoff says.
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A road trip through the desert Southwest reveals a series of sedimentary rock layers that reflect hundreds of millions of years of geologic time. The progression, known as the Grand Staircase, is “an immense and amazing series of colorful rock layers,” Hoff says. “There’s not one place you can stand and see the whole thing, but at various points it all comes into focus.” nps.gov/grca, nps.gov/zion and nps.gov/brca
Visitors can see some of the oldest rock in North America at this off-the-radar park in northern Minnesota. The preserve covers an area where a chain of volcanoes erupted 2 billion to 3 billion years ago, and is now laced with lakes and forest. “It sits firmly on top of the Canadian Shield, which is the core rock of our continent,” Hoff says.
nps.gov/voya wonder of Nevada is the bristlecone pine, one of the oldest living things in the world. Some trees have been around for more than three millennium. “It’s incredible to see a living organism that old,” Keller says. They’re easily found on a 3-mile round-trip hike on the Wheeler Peak Trail.
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Several U.S. preserves have been designated International Dark Sky Parks, places where artificial light is limited and the stargazing is incredible. The authors enjoyed many of them, including remote Black Canyon of the Gunnison in southwest Colorado. “Over and over as Maygen and I traveled we found ourselves absolutely dumbstruck,” Hoff says. “Spending time under the night sky changes you as a person.” nps.gov/blca