Southwest National Parks

While every national park in the United States is noteworthy some of the finest are located in the Southwest portion of the country. Southwest national parks include those located in Arizona, California, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Within these states are beautiful natural wonders just waiting to be enjoyed. Each of these states is home to at least one park and various other government land areas like forests and monuments. If you are lucky enough to be in the vicinity of a park in the Southwest or are planning a vacation there read on to learn more.


In Arizona you'll find a variety of different parks including the extremely popular Grand Canyon National Park. This park is of course home to the spectacular gorge of the same name through which the Colorado River runs. Another park to consider visiting in Arizona is the Petrified Forest National Park. Established in 1962, this park is home to a large number of ancient petrified wood with the majority being of the Araucarioxylon arizonicum species.

In California are two great parks -- Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park. Yosemite is open all year round and is a prime spot for hiking, camping and other outdoor activities. Sequoia National Park, as its name suggests, is a place where you can see many groves of majestic sequoia trees. If heading to Colorado, you cannot miss the Mesa Verde National Park. This is the only park of its type that was designated for protection of man-made historic ruins instead of the natural landscape.

Nevada has the Great Basin National Park. Although this park is one of the lesser known and newer national parks it has a lot to offer visitors to the state, including cool caverns to explore and native wildlife to behold. Although not officially a park, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area is also in Nevada. New Mexico has Carlsbad Caverns National Park, a location where you can explore this ancient system of caves. In Texas parks include Big Bend National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Rounding out our list of Southwest National Parks are those in Utah and Wyoming which include the very famous Yellowstone National Park. There's no doubt that the southwestern portion of the U.S. is a rich source of natural beauty and protected land.



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