If you loved watching the adventures of Yogi Bear, his faithful sidekick Boo-boo, his girlfriend Cindy Bear and Ranger Smith in your childhood days, then you will also probably love Wyoming.
Wyoming is a plateau located in the Western United States, the major part of its area covered with mountain ranges. It is home to the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and of course, the Yellowstone National Park.
The Yellowstone National Park is the basis for the fictional Jellystone National Park, where the aforementioned children's cartoon characters live. Yellowstone Park is the first national park in the world, famous for its wildlife and geothermal characteristics. Get in touch with nature and learn to appreciate and preserve its beauty by observing the park's native animals. See grizzly bears, gray wolves, elk and bison in their natural habitat. Hunting is not allowed to guarantee the survival of the mammal species. Fishing, on the other hand, is allowed on a catch-and-release basis. Feeding bears was once allowed in the park grounds, but it was later prohibited to ensure the safety of visitors.
The park is also where the most famous geyser is located. The awe-inspiring cone geyser Old Faithful in the Upper Geyser Basin, the first geyser in the park to be named, shoots around 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of boiling water at a height of 145 feet. Intervals in between eruptions average to 90 minutes today, an increase from the 1939 record of 66.5 minutes.
Another geothermal feature that is hard to be missed is the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano in America which is active until now. It was created by a cataclysmic eruption that happened thousands of years ago, stronger than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens by 1000 times. Its crater is about two thirds of a mile.
What is great about Wyoming is that the Yellowstone National Park is not the only geological wonder in the state. The Rocky Mountains, its range stretching more than 3,000 miles, contribute to the natural beauty of Wyoming. It has wooded forests as well as mountain tundra. The mountain range offers mountaineering, hiking, camping, skiing, hunting and snowboarding for folks who love outdoors. People may also take pictures of animals (with care!) such as moose, elk, coyotes, grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, the bald eagle and others as these creatures move in their natural home. Those who like to challenge their physical capabilities may attempt to reach Longs Peak, which is around 14,000 feet high and is easily visible to any point below. The easiest way to the top is through the Keyhole Route, passable only in the hot summer months. Another challenging activity is rock climbing in the area called “The Diamond.”
The Rocky Mountains converge with the Great Plains, another wonderful natural site. It is actually a vast flat area of land, covered with prairie, steppe and grassland. It is divided into ten subdivisions, one of the most famous of which is the Black Hills, the tallest peaks east of the Rocky Mountains. On one side of the hills is the famous carved attractions modeled after the former American presidents, the Mount Rushmore Memorial. Sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln, the granite scupltures feature the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
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