National and State Parks of the USA by Kaelie

National and State Parks of the USA

By Kaelie Stainwright

In the USA we went to some of the National Parks, some were very fun. My favourite were Yosemite, Yellowstone and Zion. 

Yosemite National Park

Campground: Upper Pines Campground

At the camp site, there were logs across the river to a magical land we called “Everlaw”. We liked it because there were lots of sticks to build cool things. We built a bridge and a teepee with friends that we met.

Rating: ֍֍֍֍֍

Favourite walks:

I liked Nevada and Vernal Falls because the waterfalls were beautiful. On the walk, we ran under a small waterfall and it was freezing. Mummy screamed because it was freezing and her shoes were wet.

I liked Mirror Lake because it was amazing. It had reflections in the water of trees and mountains that were very cool. 

We also played Poohsticks on the bridge. Poohsticks is a 2 + person game where you throw a stick in the water from a bridge and run to the other side of the bridge to see whose comes out first and they win (Ella won 2 and I won 1).

Death Valley National Park

Campground: Furnace Creek Campground

 

The campground we stayed at was boring but the one we were going to stay at had a swimming pool and because it was hot we went swimming. It was a good temperature. We had fun playing especially when we were playing a game that we made up. In the game, I said I was very good at swimming and Ella said, “I’m going to win.” She loses and pretends to drown and I must save her. I make sure she is ok, then drag her along. Then we can swap.

Rating: ֍֍֍

Favourite walks:

I liked Salt Creek because I liked seeing the pupfish play in the water. I also noticed that there weren’t many pupfish in the creek because there wasn’t enough water. Pupfish are only found in Death Valley.

I liked Red Cathedral because to get to Red Cathedral we had to go up through windy passages and I loved it. We saw a rock that looked like a pig and it was funny. We climbed lots of rocks and we had lots of fun. Red Cathedral looked like a cathedral made of red rock.

Valley of Fire State Park

Campground: Atlatl Rock Campground

The campsite was amazing with the red rock all around us and it was beautiful when the sun set on the rock. Ella saw a bighorn sheep running at her and at first, she thought it was a human.

Rating: ֍֍֍֍

Favourite walks:

I liked Elephant Rock because it looked like a termite sucking the life out of the rocks. It was supposed to look like an elephant but it didn’t.

Slide Rock State Park

Campground (outside of the park): Lo Lo Mai

 

The campsite was much more than amazing. We made new friends and it had a pool, river and a playground. We went rafting down the river on floats.

Rating: ֍֍֍֍֍

Day trip:

We went on a day trip to slide rock and it was so much fun going down the slide. It was a slide made of rock and when we went down on our floats it was awesome. 

Grand Canyon National Park South Rim

Campground: Grand Canyon Camper Village  

The campsite was close to the entry of the National Park but it was boring. We didn’t really play there.

Rating: ֍֍

Favourite walks:

I liked Bright Angel Trail because it had switch backs that were fun. The switch backs were taking us down into the canyon. Coming up was harder but wasn’t too bad. The canyon was beautiful and colourful with oranges, pinks and reds.  

Grand Canyon National Park North Rim

Campgrounds: North Rim Campground, Kaibab Camper Village

I liked it because it was in the national park and when we stayed there we went to a condor talk and it had lots of information. It was also close to walks and other things like the Visitor Centre and lookouts.

Rating: ֍֍֍֍

Favourite walks:

I liked North Kaibab Trail because it had more switch backs and at the end, where we turned back, it had a tunnel that was fun to walk through.

Zion National Park

Campground: Zion River Resort, South Campground

It was one of my favourite campgrounds because it had a river near to the site and it was fun to play in. People put a swing up that we jumped off in to the water. We also went rafting down on some of the rapids on the floats.

Rating: ֍֍֍֍֍

Favourite walks:

I liked Emerald Pools because we saw a mule deer on the side of the cliff. It was funny and he was just munching on some grass and we thought he was going to fall.

I liked Scouts Overlook because it had 21 switch backs called the Walter Wiggles. Mummy went all the way up to the top of Angels Landing and we stayed down the bottom at Scouts Overlook.

I liked the Narrows because we walked up a river and it was so much fun. It was hard and I got drenched because, in some places, it was deep.  

Bryce National Park

Campground: North Campground

It wasn’t the best campground but it was near the Visitor Centre, and it was in the park, also close to the bus station.

Rating: ֍֍

Favourite walks:

I liked the Navajo Loop Trail because on one side there were a lot of switch backs and when we were walking we came across a tunnel that was fun to walk through.

Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

Campground: Slickrock Campground

It was a very good campground because it had a swimming pool and a playground. We made 2 friends in the pool when we were playing and we played in the play park some of the time.

Rating: ֍֍֍֍

Favourite walks:

Arches:

I liked Delicate Arch because near the arch we could climb the rocks. When we were climbing down it was hard because it was slippery. On the top of the rocks we could see lots of canyons and it was beautiful. Looking through the arch it had a beautiful view.

Canyonlands:

I liked all the walks in the Needles because you we are walking on rock that you could climb. It was called slick rock and I fell over because it was so slippery.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Campground: Estes Park Campground, Mary’s Lake

It was a good campground and we made friends and played in the park with them. The game we played was pirates and we pretended, we ran away from the orphanage and they were chasing us to bring us back. I liked it because it had a swimming pool that we swam in it on the last day.

Rating: ֍֍֍֍

Favourite walks:

I liked Forest Canyon Overlook because we saw a Yellow-Bellied Marmot. It was so cute and fluffy and we took lots of photo (I didn’t really look at the view).

Favourite Activities: Junior Ranger Programs:

 

I liked the Fire program because we learned how a fire starts. You have to use Oxygen, Heat and Fuel. We also we learnt how important firefighters are. 

Grand Tetons National Park

Campground: Gros Vente Campground, Colter Bay Campground

I liked it because we were there for 4 days and it was 20 minutes from town. You could see moose off the road and we saw a moose that had antlers. Mummy told us there was a bear that kept coming in the campground and we didn’t explore much.

Rating: ֍֍֍֍

Favourite walks or boats:

We got a motor boat around Jackson Lake, it was fun. Daddy let Ella and I do some driving, but I didn’t drive much so I gave most of my goes to Ella.

Yellowstone National Park

Campgrounds: Mammoth Campground, Madison campground, Grant Village, Canyon Village

I liked this campground because it was near town. We saw an elk walking through the campground and there were lots of elk in town. We also saw the Travertine Terraces and they were very cool. Travertine Terraces are big mounds of limestone that water runs down.

Rating: ֍֍֍֍֍

Favourite walks:

There were thermal features in the park and I liked the geysers and the mud pots best. My favourite geyser basin was Old Faithful because the water went high when it erupted. It was erupting for 4

minutes and 21 seconds. It was awesome.

My favourite trail was Mount Washburn because we saw big horn sheep. We had fun walking up the trail and we saw lots of wild flowers.

We also went ziplining and we had fun going across the bridges. Sometimes we hit a tree and it hurt. At the end, we had to go down on a wobbly rope and the guide pushed me off because I was scared.

Bye, Bye, USA