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Idaho National Parks
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of Rocks National Reserve - "We encamped at the
city of the rocks, a noted place from the granite rocks rising abruptly
out of the ground," wrote James Wilkins in 1849. "They are in
a romantic valley clustered together, which gives them the appearance of
a city." Wilkins was among the first wagon travelers to fix the
name City of Rocks to what looked like "a dismantled, rock-built
city of the Stone Age."
Craters of the Moon National Monument - The Craters of the Moon Lava Field covers 618 square miles and is the largest young basaltic lava field in the conterminous United States. The monument preserves 83 square miles of it for the enjoyment of present and future generations. The park contains more than 20 volcanic cones including outstanding examples of spatter cones. There are 60 different lava flows on the surface, and they range in age from 15,000 to just 2,000 years old. Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument - Hagerman Fossil Beds NM contains the largest concentration of Hagerman Horse fossils in North America. The Monument is Internationally significant because it protects the world's richest know fossil deposits from a time period called the late Pliocene epoch, 3.5 million years ago. These plants and animals represent the last glimpse of time that existed before the Ice Age, and the earliest appearances of modern flora and fauna. Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail - This site celebrates the heroic expedition of the Corps of Discovery, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark. Thirty three people traveled with them into unknown territory, starting near what is now known as Wood River, Illinois in 1804, reaching the Pacific Ocean in 1805 and returning in 1806. |
Nez
Perce National Historic Park - For thousands of years
the valleys, prairies, mountains and plateaus of the inland northwest
have been home to the Nez Perce people. The Park contains 38 sites,
mostly in Idaho, but others that follow a trail from the Wallowa
mountains of Oregon, through central Idaho, Wyoming and Montana - 1500
miles all together.
Oregon National Historic Trail - As the harbinger of America's westward expansion, the Oregon Trail was the pathway to the Pacific for fur traders, gold seekers, missionaries and others. Beginning in 1841 and continuing for more than 20 years, an estimated 300,000 emigrants followed this route from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon on a trip that took five months to complete. The 2,170 mile long trail passes through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon. Yellowstone National Park - By Act of Congress on March 1, 1872, Yellowstone National Park was "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and "for the preservation, from injury or spoilation, of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders. . . and their retention in their natural condition." Yellowstone is the first and oldest national park in the world. |
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For more information visit the National Park Service website |
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