National Parks Trivia

By Paula Green

Traveling across the United States and seeing its natural beauty is always exciting. Many tourists love visiting national parks, and each one offers something special to discover.

There are 63 national parks in the United States. The national park system also includes 433 sites with memorials, historic landmarks, and heritage areas. The most visited park is the Great Smoky Mountains, located in Tennessee and North Carolina, with over 11 million visitors annually.

Yellowstone National Park is the oldest in the United States. It sits between Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and is famous for its hot springs and geysers, including Old Faithful. The south entrance to Yellowstone is 10 miles from the north entrance of another breathtaking place, Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

The smallest national park is the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, at 192 acres. In contrast, Alaska's Wrangell-Saints Elias National Park & Preserve is the largest, with 13.2 million acres. It is bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Death Valley combined. Alaska has seven other beautiful national parks: Gates of the Arctic, Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, and Denali, which is home to Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America.

Death Valley National Park in California is the hottest, driest, and lowest place in the U.S. Temperatures there soar above 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Also in California, is the world’s largest living tree, General Sherman, in Sequoia National Park. This gigantic tree stands 275 feet tall and is 36 feet wide at its base. Other national parks in California are Channel Islands, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwood, and the famous Yosemite.

Three states each have three national parks. Arizona has the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, and Saguaro. Florida’s parks are Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, and the Everglades. Washington features Mount Rainier, the North Cascades, and the Olympics.

Aloha! Hawaii has two national parks: Hawaii Volcanoes and Haleakala. Other states with two national parks are New Mexico: Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands, South Dakota: Badlands and Wind Cave, and Texas: Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains. The National Park of American Samoa and the Virgin Islands National Park are in U.S. territories.

Since we’ve traveled through national parks, let’s explore this tourist query. Get set to don those thinking caps because it’s time to get a little trivial.

1. Two national parks are within driving distance of Pittsburgh: New River Gorge in West Virginia and Cuyahoga Valley in this state.

2. Four national parks are found in this state: Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, and Rocky Mountain.

3. This Kentucky national park is the world's longest known cave system, over 400 miles.

4. From mid-October to early March, the first sliver of sunshine in the U.S. falls on Cadillac Mountain, the highest point in this Maine national park.

5. Congaree National Park is located 15 miles southeast of Columbia in this state.

6. Named after a U.S. President, this national park is in South Dakota.

7. This national park is in eastern Nevada near the Utah border.

8. Over 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail runs through this Virginia national park.

9. Which state has five national parks: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion?

10. Our 61^st national park was designated on February 15, 2019. It stretches 15 miles along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.

11. Name the national park on the northwestern corner of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

12. This Montana national park is on the Canadian border. Its pristine ecosystem is called the "Crown of the Continent Ecosystem.”

13. Located in Oregon, this national park has the deepest lake in the U.S., with a depth of about 2,000 feet and is the remnant of an extinct volcano.

14. Voyageurs National Park is a scenic place on the Canadian border, in which U.S. state?

15. Nestled in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas, name this national park.

Answers: 1. Ohio 2. Colorado 3. Mammoth Cave 4. Acadia 5. South Carolina 6. Theodore Roosevelt 7. Great Basin 8. Shenandoah 9. Utah 10. Indiana Dunes 11. Isle Royale 12. Glacier 13. Crater Lake 14. Minnesota 15. Hot Springs

Sources: www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/fun-facts-national-parks, www.parkrangerjohn.com/us-national-parks-by-size/, thewanderclub.com/blogs/blog/25-fun-facts-about-national-parks, www.funtrivia.com