National parks are unique places of wildlife in which human activity is severely limited. The purpose of their creation is to preserve the miraculous wonders of our planet, protect the animal and plant world, and conduct research. These are favorite places for tourist trips that leave unforgettable impressions and make you freeze in admiration for the beauty and amazingly harmonious arrangement of life on Earth.
The first national parks began to be created in the 19th century. So, in 1872, Yellowstone Park was opened in the United States, and in 1916 a full-fledged National Parks Service was created. In Europe, this tradition was supported, and in 1914, the national park of the canton of Graubünden was opened in Switzerland. In 1916, the Barguzinsky Reserve, the first in the history of Russia, was created in the Irkutsk province.
National parks allow preserving unique ecosystems in their natural habitat, so that people do not have to observe, for example, bison or elephants only in zoos, and endangered plant species exclusively in the form of herbaria. They also create parks to observe rare natural phenomena: glaciers, waterfalls, geysers.
So, the most famous parks in the world - what are they?
Yellowstone park
A truly unique place on the globe. Hot colorful springs, geysers, cracks in the craters give this place a completely unearthly look. Here is the tallest geyser in the world, called the “Steamboat”, and the dormant volcano - the Yellowstone Caldera. It is very ancient and only a few times over the past two million years threw lava. After such eruptions, the main part of the park was covered with bizarre frozen patterns of space relief.
Another local attraction is the famous Mammoth Springs, which boils boiling water with chemical impurities, forming yellow, white and gray terraces with limestone deposits.
And the greatest admiration is usually caused by colorful springs with hot water. Algae-like organisms live in these reservoirs that paint the bottom into bizarre overflows of red, yellow, orange, blue and turquoise.
Grand Canyon
US national parks are rightfully proud of this geological wonder of nature. The Grand Canyon is a deep cleft that fancifully coils around Arizona. The age of this creation of nature is 10 million years old, and the depth in some places exceeds 1800 meters.
In 2007, a transparent bridge was built connecting the two edges of a deep cleft. Only here it is possible to experience an unforgettable feeling of hovering over a precipice of 1200 meters. And the layers of rocky rocks that have formed over the many millions of years history of the canyon play and shimmer in the light of the sun with bizarre colors.
Serengiti
African national parks attract numerous tourists with their inimitable wildlife and fauna. The Serengiti Tanzan Park, located in the savannah zone, was no exception. Herds of zebras and wildebeests, giraffes and gazelles graze on open spaces. In the dense thickets of shrubs, a rare species is hidden - Cairo buffalos. The animals that live here are characterized by natural seasonal migration following the rains. Numerous predators - lions, leopards, jaguars wander after the ungulates.
Central Kalahara Reserve
Tourists are not allowed into this place. Only scientific workers who study the natural life of the Bushmen, leading their subsistence farming , can be here . And the main protected object in the reserve is a unique velvichia plant.
Blue Mountains Park
The name is translated as "blue mountains", and this unique place is located in the southeast of Australia. In addition to amazing mountain landscapes - part of the Dividing Range, here you can observe exotic Australian animals and birds - platypuses, possums, gray giant kangaroos, fan tails, yellow flycatchers, lyrebirds. Many places in the Blue Mountains Park remain inaccessible, and a human foot has never stepped there.
Currently, almost every country can boast its own unique reserve, so it’s simply impossible to talk about all the interesting places in one article.
All national parks of the world endlessly amaze the imagination with their diversity and beauty, because the unique nature of our planet will never cease to amaze and delight.