Geology of Vacation Destinations

It’s summer, and prime time for packing up and exploring North America’s favorite vacation destinations—the National Parks.

Called “the best idea we ever had”* the National parks can trace their roots to 1864 when President Abraham Lincoln deeded Yosemite Valley to the state of California. In 1872 President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law legislation that created Yellowstone Park, the first National Park. In 1906, the Antiquities Act extended protection for the country’s natural heritage to smaller features, like Devils Tower as national monuments.

The drive to preserve these areas for future generations came not just from their natural beauty but from the recognition that these areas have much to tell us about the history of the Earth.

This week: Stories from the rocks of the US National Parks and Monuments.

*By writer and historian Wallace Stegner