National Parks: What's your favorite?

dirtyRU

dirtyRU

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Scattered in all countries all over the world, you're bound to have a National Park near by or not far away.
From the worlds first National Park, Yellowstone, to Royal National Park in Australia, what's your favorite?
Many of these places are truly inspiring to get you back in touch with the "untouched" side of our world. Share your thoughts, pictures or anything National Parks related here.
I thought i would create this thread after watchin "The National Parks" Ken Burns series for the umpteenth time.
With all the Governmental problems we face, it's not hard to see the upside of things when venturing into a park. :raz:

This is very true & doesn't speak for only the parks here in America, but for all over the world.
Use them. Protect them!
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkZNgV-Mqoo"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkZNgV-Mqoo[/ame]

Here's a peak at the series if you have never seen it. I don't recommend movies much, but this series is great! All shot in HD with great narrating & music. You can get this on Netflix, buy it, or heck your local library could even have a copy of it. You'd be surprised what you can learn from it.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx8WbZIWCSM&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SP378A5AC6067623D6"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx8WbZIWCSM&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SP378A5AC6067623D6[/ame]
 
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I'm not a big fan of National Parks, because here in NSW you are so restricted in what you can and cannot do. Instead, state forrests are far better for actually enjoying the bush, but sadly more and more of these have been down graded to national parks, and those that remain access is becoming increasingly restricted. The bigoted greenies who think they are the only ones who love nature have influenced governments to bring all of this about. Of the National Parks, Blue Mountains is pretty good, while the Whiam Whiam State forest is pretty cool- but I love Watagans as well.
 
My favourite, would have to be Abercrombie :raz:
I first went there in 2006 & have been hooked every since. I've been there at least once ever year since then & can't wait to go back there again :ebiggrin:

If I was to pic something a little closer to home, I would have to say that The Watagans or possibly Yengo.

And yes Rally, I fully understand where you are coming from re the greenies :evil:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Upon further reflection, and having been to more state forests and national parks than I can remember, even being in a poor national park is better than being in the best city.
 
Rally said:
even being in a poor national park is better than being in the best city.
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Well said! I hear where you are coming from on the parks too. The national forest are just there & not patrolled by rangers constantly.
 
Is it true that US park rangers are armed? If so, is that so they can be used to defend against wildlife, or as enforcement of park laws?
 
Armed to busta' cap in someone's a**! Actually i'll check on that. Game Wardens are armed full time, as they have the authority to go onto properties without search warrants, so they tend to encounter more crazy people. I know Rangers can carry Rifles, but not sure about carrying small arms all the time. Good question.

Alrighty, just looked it up. Only certain park Rangers are armed depending upon what their position/job duty is. They are in fact a form of Federal Law Enforcement, so that about sums it up.
 
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I don't think I've been to one yet that I didn't like. But, Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming is high on my "I'd like to go back there and just take it all in some more" list.. Canyonlands in Utah is great for exploring the terrain..

I've been to Bryce Canyon and Arches (both in Utah) also and thoroughly enjoyed them. Of course, the Grand Canyon is great, but it's a little too "look in the hole" for my tastes.. I like getting up a little closer than "hey, look down there at the river!"
dunno.gif
 
It is a bit confusing but our national parks are run by state governments, and here at least are unarmed as far as I know. With the exception of crocodiles in the northern tropics there are no dangerous animals which would warrant rangers carrying guns. Well, you wouldn't want to upset a tiger snake or similar I guess.

dirtyRU said:
Armed to busta' cap in someone's a**! Actually i'll check on that. Game Wardens are armed full time, as they have the authority to go onto properties without search warrants, so they tend to encounter more crazy people. I know Rangers can carry Rifles, but not sure about carrying small arms all the time. Good question.

Alrighty, just looked it up. Only certain park Rangers are armed depending upon what their position/job duty is. They are in fact a form of Federal Law Enforcement, so that about sums it up.
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Darkanion said:
I don't think I've been to one yet that I didn't like. But, Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming is high on my "I'd like to go back there and just take it all in some more" list..
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The Tetons i have been dying to go to ever since the first time i saw them on TV. All the pictures i see just make it even worse.

We have our National Parks which are at the federal level, then all/ or most all states have their own parks dept. Like here in TX, it's Texas Parks & Wildlife. I think the state parks seem to be more developed while the national parks are left more alone. Last i heard, Texas has over 90 state parks, while there are a few national parks. The two big ones are Big Bend & Guadalupe Mountain National Park.

As with the parks out west & north, even TX has Bears to deal with. The other common bad news animals are Mountain Lions & Rattle Snakes. The abundance of wildlife i think is what makes the parks out here so special. The first time i ever saw two male elks duking it out & bugling was in Rocky Mountain NP. Those & the bison were real special to see.
 
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dirtyRU said:
The Tetons i have been dying to go to ever since the first time i saw them on TV. All the pictures i see just make it even worse.
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Yeah, when I went there a few years ago, I rented a place on Jackson Lake. The view was magnificent. I wanted to stay much longer than the 2-3 days I had it rented for..

The view from the balcony..

IMG_5542.JPG


IMG_5552.JPG


The ONLY downside to that trip was the cloud-cover.. But, that was a minor thing to deal with. :biggrin:
 
What a fantastic view :)
If I had a view like that from my balcony I'd want to stay there longer too :ebiggrin:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Geez, looking at that great picture really makes you feel great to be stuck in the TX heat!
 
Just watched "Spencer's Mountain" for the first time. Who woulda guessed that it was the Tetons where they were filming at! Thought that was pretty ironic...
 
Snakes are often considered a problem here, and looking at the list, you can see that it is nothing to be proud of.

https://listverse.com/2011/03/30/top-10-most-venomous-snakes/

But I have almost never come across any in my travels, even though I was brought up bordering a national park and have done much bushwalking as a kid. I think they hear you coming and get out of your way.

Spiders, on the other hand, are a different matter. I have come to the conclusion that there are only 2 types of spiders in the world. Funnel webs and dead ones, and like snakes they are found throughout all our national parks.

Those pictures look fantastic





dirtyRU said:
The Tetons i have been dying to go to ever since the first time i saw them on TV. All the pictures i see just make it even worse.

We have our National Parks which are at the federal level, then all/ or most all states have their own parks dept. Like here in TX, it's Texas Parks & Wildlife. I think the state parks seem to be more developed while the national parks are left more alone. Last i heard, Texas has over 90 state parks, while there are a few national parks. The two big ones are Big Bend & Guadalupe Mountain National Park.

As with the parks out west & north, even TX has Bears to deal with. The other common bad news animals are Mountain Lions & Rattle Snakes. The abundance of wildlife i think is what makes the parks out here so special. The first time i ever saw two male elks duking it out & bugling was in Rocky Mountain NP. Those & the bison were real special to see.
Click to expand...
 
^^ I do believe Steve Irwin did a good job of educating the world on Australia's many deadly snakes. Sure do miss that guy!

A couple shots entering Rocky Mountain National Park, coming from Estes Park.
Came around a sharp curve & almost ran into this guy!
untitled-1.jpg

vv Entrance Road into the park. I have more great shots of deeper into the park, but have to dig around the old computer to find them.
rmnp.jpg
 
Darkanion said:
Some more pictures from that trip :

Road Trip '05 : The Tetons, Yellowstone, and beyond...

I need to add some navigation links at the bottom of those pages, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. The easiest way to go from day to day is to click "day 1, day 2, etc." in the column on the left side of the screen..
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Thanks for sharing.. Those are some greeaaat shots! Careful with those references to Robert Earl Keen, i just might mistake you for an Aggie :cool:
 
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