Travel tip: The most beautiful national park in USA

Founded in 1872, Yellowstone National Park in the Rocky Mountains (Wyoming) is the oldest national park in the world - and one of the most visited: the park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has around 4 million guests every year. It covers an area of almost 9,000 square kilometers and is best known for its numerous geysers and hot springs as well as its wildlife. The area of Yellowstone National Park, named after the river of the same name, is located at an altitude of between 1,600 and 3,400 meters above sea level in the caldera of a former supervolcano.

The warming of the water caused by the magma chamber is the cause of the sometimes spectacular activities of over 100 geysers - popular attractions are the "Old Faithful", the world's largest "Steamboat Geyser" and the "Mammoth Hot Springs". In addition to the landscape characterized by snow-covered mountains, coniferous forests, lakes, and waterfalls, Yellowstone National Park fascinates with an extremely rich animal world: herds of bison, moose, and elk roam the park, mountain goats and bighorn sheep can be found in the higher altitudes. With a bit of luck, you will also get grizzly and black bears, wolves, coyotes, and cougars in front of the camera. Active vacationers can go hiking and mountaineering, kayaking, horseback riding, and skiing in winter.

Yosemite National Park: giant sequoias, granite mountains, and waterfalls

With its unique natural landscape, Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada (California) is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park, founded in 1890, is home to five different ecosystems and a large number of plant species, some of which only occur here, due to the large differences in altitude (600 to almost 4,000 meters above sea level). The most prominent representatives of the Yosemite flora are the giant sequoias, which can reach heights of up to 95 meters. Signposted paths lead to their groves.

For many guests, the 8-mile-long Yosemite Valley, hollowed out by Ice Age glaciers, is the main draw. Steep rock faces rise up to 1,500 meters high on both sides of the Trog valley, which is covered by mountain meadows and forests - an unforgettable sight. Accessed by a variety of hiking trails, Yosemite Valley is best explored on foot. Granite rocks and waterfalls characterize the landscape; Sights such as the 739 meters high Yosemite Falls and the two granite mountains Half Dome and El Capitan provide fantastic photo motifs. Incidentally, the latter is the main reason why Yosemite National Park not only attracts nature lovers but also countless climbers from all over the world. Several smaller rocks are also ideal for bouldering.

Desert landscapes under the scorching sun - Death Valley National Park

Welcome to Death Valley: Death Valley National Park (California, Nevada) is one of the hottest and driest places on earth. Deserts of stone, salt and sand, craggy canyons, dry lakes and shimmering reddish rocks, framed by majestic mountain ranges, form a landscape here that in places is more reminiscent of an alien, desolate planet than of Earth - so it is not surprising that The approximately 50 meters high Mesquite Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park served as the backdrop for "Star Wars". Temperatures between 40 and 50 °C do not represent extremes during midsummer but are considered normal here.

The main attractions of the approximately 13,600 square kilometers national park, which is part of the Mojave Desert, are the Badwater Basin, a salt pan, 85.5 meters below sea level and thus the lowest point in the United States, the iridescent sedimentary hills of Artist's Drive and the Racetrack Playa with its mysterious wandering rocks, the riddle of which has only recently been solved. A stop at Zabriskie Point and Dante's View, both off Highway 190, is also highly recommended.

Grand Canyon National Park: a gorge of gigantic proportions

It is considered one of the greatest natural wonders on earth: the Grand Canyon in the national park of the same name (Arizona). Jagged cliffs, part mountains, part fantastic stone castles, shimmer in various shades of red, beige, ocher, brown, orange, and pink - a breathtaking sight, especially in the morning and evening hours. At the bottom of this gigantic gorge flows, hardly imaginable from above, the Colorado River, which created the Grand Canyon by its water masses having carved a way through the rock over millions of years.

Today the Grand Canyon has a length of 446 kilometers and is 1,857 meters deep at its deepest point, the width is up to 29 kilometers - these dimensions are hard to imagine, the sight overwhelming. There are many ways to experience this unique landscape: The Rim Trail, as the name suggests, runs along the rim of the canyon as a hiking trail, while the Bright Angels Trail takes fit hikers to the bottom of the gorge. Alternatively, shuttle buses run between different vantage points. You can also go boating or rafting on the Colorado River or admire the canyon from a helicopter. By the way: The central vantage point Mather Point is recommended for sunrise, while fantastic sunsets can be admired at Hopi Point.

Multicolored sandstone towers and verdant forests in Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park

In contrast to the Grand Canyon, the bizarre rock formations in Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah), which glow in red, brown, and ocher tones, were not created by a river, but by thousands of years of erosion caused by heavy rainfall and the repeated succession of frost and frost Thaw periods - a process that continues today. The so-called hoodoos formed on the edge of a plateau: rock pyramids, pinnacles, and towers made of sedimentary rock. Some are so large that they are reminiscent of amphitheaters and canyons - the largest of these erosion forms is called "Bryce Canyon". Other hoodoos have such evocative names as "Queen Victoria" or "Thor's Hammer".

A varied scenic drive leads through the national park, which was founded in 1928, past several spectacular vantage points, and there are also hiking trails of various levels of difficulty. A wonderful experience is a night under the starry sky of Bryce Canyon National Park, which is as clear as in desert areas remote from civilization. Due to the altitude (2,400-2,700 meters above sea level), however, it can get very cold at night.

A visit to Bryce Canyon National Park can be excellently combined with a tour of Zion National Park, which is only around 80 kilometers away. Its landscape is characterized by several large and small gorges, on the rock walls of which millions of years of geological history can be read in different layers of rock. In addition to the sight of the suddenly steep rock walls, the juxtaposition of desert-like areas and green forests that cover the valley bottoms in the larger, water-rich canyons is impressive.

Hikers and climbers will find optimal conditions in this national park but should bear in mind that it can get extremely hot here in early summer due to the lower altitude. Beautiful destinations for a trek are the emerald green Emerald Pools with their small waterfalls, the weathered table mountain Checkerboard Mesa and the 1,763-meter high rock formation Angels Landing, which offers a wonderful panoramic view.

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