Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park may be the world’s most famous park, but it is definitely the oldest national park. It was established in 1872. 96% of the park is in Wyoming; the rest is in Idaho and Montana.

Over 300 geysers and hot springs

Yellowstone National Park is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

Over 3,600,000 visitors come every year to see over 300 geysers and hot springs. In fact there are more geysers and hot springs in the park than anywhere else on earth.

Old Faithful

The most famous geyser is Old Faithful, which erupts at intervals of 60 to 110 minutes. The geyser reaches a height of 106 to 184 feet and the eruptions last from one and half minutes to five minutes. Have your camera ready to snap an impressive photo like the one from Keith Adams, photographer, at the top of this article.

Old Faithful used to wash clothes?

A fun fact about Old Faithful: in the late 1800s, visitors used the geyser to wash their clothes. They arranged their dirty laundry in the crater and after it erupted the clothes were clean. One problem with this was that it shredded wool clothing.

An active volcano in Yellowstone

There is an active volcano in Yellowstone. Between 1,000 and 3,000 earthquakes occur in the park each year.

There are almost 300 waterfalls of fifteen feet or higher inside the park. At 308 feet, the tallest waterfall is Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.

Many wild animals live in Yellowstone National Park: elk, mountain lions, trumpeter swans, moose, bison, grizzly bears, and lynx.

 

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources:

Flynn, Sarah Wassner. National Geographic Kids: National Parks Guide U.S.A., National Geographic Society, 2012.

McHugh, Erin. National Parks: A Kid’s Guide to America’s Parks, Monuments, and Landmarks, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., 2012.

Palmerlee, Danny; Bendure, Glenda; Friary, Ned; Karlin, Adam; Matchar, Emily; Sainsbury, Brendan. Discover USA’s Best National Parks, Lonely Planet Publications, 2012.

“Yellowstone: National Park, ID, MT, WY,” National Park Service, 2014/12/16 http://www.nps.gov/yell/faqs.htm.

 

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