Despite preserving some of America’s most beautiful mountain landscapes, only three hours from Seattle, North Cascades National Park remains one of the two least visited parks in the lower 48 states. It receives less than 20,000 visitors per year, the same amount as Yosemite receives in two days. The greater unit, referred to as North […]
Shenandoah National Park stretches along the crest of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains for 105 miles. Only one mile wide at places, at at most thirteen miles wide, for many visitors, the Park is the Skyline Drive. The winding road offers uncountable numbers of scenic overlooks on both sides. However the topography is gentle rather than […]
In Carlsbad Caverns National Park, the same 250-million year old limestone reef that forms the Guadalupe Mountains has been dissolved into caves. The gypsum that forms the rare sand dunes – last week’s photo spot – is one of the by-products of the dissolution of limestone by sulfuric acid. Most of the caves are formed […]
Guadalupe Mountains National Park offers in a compact size a great variety of scenery and juxtapositions, including the highest mountains in Texas, canyons, desert, and sand dunes. The vegetation range from desert plants, to woodland trees whose color in autumn rival New England. Being among the least visited of the parks in the continental US, […]
Remoteness makes Big Basin National Park one of the least visited National Parks. The park lies 325 miles from El Paso, the closest major city. The three roads that lead to the park end there. They do not pass through to another location. A diverse topography, flora, and fauna surprise the visitor who takes the […]
At the edge of the Painted Desert, erosion is washing away soft badlands to expose fossilized remnants of ancients forests. Petrified Forest National Park is the place to see a large concentration of perfectly preserved trunks, turned cell-by-cell to colorful stone. What makes the park unique is that eroded badlands with a variety of textures […]
Posted on April 28, 2010, 3:00 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Thank you for those who voted on yesterday’s polls about the Potato Harbor sunsets. I am with the majority opinion. I prefer the third image because it looks more natural, as the contrast was down to reasonable levels, while the two other images have a “HDR” look. Of those two, I prefer the first one […]
Posted on April 26, 2010, 7:17 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Here are three sunset images from my recent trip to Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the five islands that make up Channel Islands National Park. They were taken at Potato Harbor Overlook, which is reached through a 5-mile RT hike that is the most rewarding in the Scorpion Ranch area. The fjord-like Potato Harbor […]
Mesa Verde National Park includes the best-preserved and most notable Ancient Pueblo cliffs dwellings in the country, which bear witness to the most developed civilization in Ancient America. Cliff Palace is not only the largest cliff-dwelling in Mesa Verde (and in North America) it is also the one that offers the most varied photographic opportunities. […]
The densely packed, brightly colored hoodoos in Bryce Amphitheaters are so stunning that missing to make a striking image from any of the overlooks is difficult. However, if asked about my favorite overlook along the amphitheater, I would easily pick Sunset Point. Despite it’s name, Sunset Point is excellent through the day. Unlike other viewpoints, […]
