Fossil Forests of the Yellowstone National Park

THE NATIONAL PARKS AT A GLANCE.
[Number, 19; total area, 11,817 square miles.]
National parks in order of creation.	Location.	Area in square miles.	Distinctive characteristics.
Hot Springs 1832	Middle Arkansas.	1½	46 hot springs possessing curative properties—Many hotels and boarding houses—20 bath-houses under public control.
Yellowstone 1872	Northwestern Wyoming.	3,348	More geysers than in all rest of world together—Boiling springs—Mud volcanoes—Petrified forests—Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, remarkable for gorgeous coloring—Large lakes—Many large streams and waterfalls—Vast wilderness, greatest wild bird and animal preserve in world—Exceptional trout fishing.
Sequoia 1890	Middle eastern California.	604	The Big Tree National Park—Scores of sequoia trees 20 to 30 feet in diameter, thousands over 10 feet in diameter—Towering mountain ranges—Mount Whitney, highest peak in continental United States—Startling precipices—Cave of considerable size.
Yosemite 1890	Middle eastern California.	1,125	Valley of world-famed beauty—Lofty cliffs—Romantic vistas—Many waterfalls of extraordinary height—3 groves of big trees—High Sierra—Waterwheel falls—Good trout fishing.
General Grant 1890	Middle eastern California.	4	Created to preserve the celebrated General Grant Tree, 35 feet in diameter—6 miles from Sequoia National Park.
Mount Rainier 1890	West central Washington.	325	Largest accessible single peak glacier system—28 glaciers, some of large size—48 square miles of glacier, 50 to 500 feet thick—Wonderful sub-alpine wild-flower fields.
Crater Lake 1902	Southwestern Oregon.	249	Lake of extraordinary blue in crater of extinct volcano—Sides 1,000 feet high—Interesting lava formations—Fine fishing.
Wind Cave 1903	South Dakota.	17	Cavern having many miles of galleries and numerous chambers containing peculiar formations.
Platt 1901	Southern Oklahoma.	1⅓	Many sulphur and other springs possessing medicinal value.
Sullys Hill 1904	North Dakota.	1⅕	Small park with woods, streams, and a lake—Is an important wild-animal preserve.
Mesa Verde 1906	Southwestern Colorado.	77	Most notable and best preserved prehistoric cliff dwellings in United States, if not in the world.
Glacier 1910	Northwestern Montana.	1,534	Rugged mountain region of unsurpassed Alpine character—250 glacier-fed lakes of romantic beauty—60 small glaciers—Precipices thousands of feet deep—Almost sensational scenery of marked individuality—Fine trout fishing.
Rocky Mountain 1915	North middle Colorado.	378	Heart of the Rockies—Snowy range, peaks 11,000 to 14,250 feet altitude—Remarkable records of glacial period.
Hawaii 1916	Hawaii.	242	Three separate areas—Kilauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaii, Haleakala on Maui.
Lassen Volcanic 1916	Northern California.	124	Only active volcano in United States proper—Lassen Peak, 10,465 feet—Cinder Cone, 6,879 feet—Hot springs—Mud geysers.
Mount McKinley 1917	South central Alaska.	2,645	Highest mountain in North America—Rises higher above surrounding country than any other mountain in the world.
Grand Canyon 1919	North central Arizona.	1,009	The greatest example of erosion and the most sublime spectacle in the world.
Lafayette 1919	Maine coast.	12	The group of granite mountains upon Mount Desert Island.
Zion 1919	Southwestern Utah.	120	Magnificent gorge (Zion Canyon), depth from 1,500 to 2,500 feet, with precipitous walls—Of great beauty and scenic interest.

THE FOSSIL FORESTS OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.

By F. H. Knowlton,
United States Geological Survey.

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