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• Park Big Cypress National Preserve The country’s first national preserve, Big Cypress protects 729,000 acres of wetlands that flow clean water across the Greater Everglades ecosystem, into Everglades National Park, and into the vital estuaries along Florida’s southwest coast. Big Cypress is remarkable for its temperate and tropical mixture of species found across five major habitats: cypress swamps, marl prairies, pinelands, hardwood hammocks and estuaries including tidal marshes and mangrove forests. Explore hiking and paddling trails among these habitats that are home to more than 100 endangered and threatened animals and plants such as the Florida panther, the American alligator, and the famed ghost orchid. The preserve is also home to diverse species of flora and fauna found nowhere else on earth, from the Florida bonneted bat to the Big Cypress fox squirrel to Everglades crabgrass.
• Park Big Hole National Battlefield After spending the summer fleeing U.S. Army troops, a band of Nez Perce Indians set up camp in Montana's Big Hole Valley, unaware that nearby troops would soon intercept them. On August 9, 1877, the quiet dawn was pierced by the sound of U.S. Army gunfire and the screams of women and children, many of whom died instantly in their tipis. Between 60 and 90 Nez Perce men, women and children were killed during a 36-hour battle. Today the battlefield is part of the Nez Perce National Historical Park, which consists of 38 sites that preserve the culture and the history of the Nez Perce. The Nez Perce consider the Big Hole National Battlefield a sacred burial ground, and many tribal members travel here to honor those who perished in the conflict.
• Park Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area This recreation area straddles the northern Wyoming and southern Montana borders, preserving approximately 68,000 acres between the Pryor and Bighorn mountain ranges. The park was established in 1966 following the construction of the Yellowtail Dam by the Bureau of Reclamation to preserve the area's diverse landscape, including the spectacular Bighorn Canyon and Bighorn Lake.
• Park Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area This underappreciated jewel offers a variety of outdoor attractions, from hiking to whitewater rafting to bird-watching to stargazing. One of the park’s most popular activities is horseback riding, and visitors can enjoy more than 180 miles of riding trails and stay in special campsites that will accommodate horses. The East Rim Overlook in the southeastern area of the park offers a spectacular view of where the river cuts a deep gorge into the Cumberland Plateau. Some of the most interesting natural features include the natural sandstone arches that formed along the edges of the gorge — hikers can see more than a dozen of these beautiful structures on the western side of the park.
• Park Big Thicket National Preserve Spanning seven counties and nine ecosystems, not far from the Texas-Louisiana border, Big Thicket National Preserve weaves together internationally renowned biological diversity with the rich history of many generations of people who have relied on this land for safety and survival.
• Park Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument In the 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama, was one of the most segregated places in the United States. In 1963, civil rights leaders Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organized nonviolent protests in the city to take a stand against race-based injustice. Day after day, hundreds of marchers took to the streets, including hundreds of school-aged youth. These nonviolent protesters suffered brutal mistreatment at the hands of police and other city officials, gaining national attention and eventually winning major concessions in the fight for equal rights.
• Park Biscayne National Park Located just a few miles from the city of Miami, Biscayne is the largest marine park in the National Park System and preserves the diverse marine environment where the Atlantic Ocean meets Biscayne Bay. The park features a variety of plant and animal life both above and below the water's surface, including the longest stretch of mangrove forest remaining on Florida's east coast and part of the only living tropical coral reef system in the continental United States.
• Park Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park This park protects a 12-mile stretch of the Gunnison River as it flows through an exceptionally deep and narrow gorge. The steep canyon walls keep out much of the sunlight, giving it a dark appearance and inspiring the "Black Canyon" name. Visitors can enjoy trout fishing and challenging paddling conditions on the river; rock climbers can also choose from 145 remote and challenging climbs throughout the park.
• Park Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park Experience the living landscape of the “Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution” in the Blackstone River Valley. The Blackstone River helped fuel America’s drive towards industrialization by running the nation’s first water-powered cotton mill. As a result, mill villages soon sprang up from the headwaters in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Narragansett Bay in Providence, Rhode Island. The 46-mile waterway, once called "the hardest-working river in America," continues to connect the communities in this celebrated national heritage corridor.
• Park Blackwell School National Historic Site This historic three-room schoolhouse in West Texas helps preserve the complex story of segregated education that affected Latino students in the Southwest from the late 19th century until the 1960s.
• Park Blue Ridge Parkway Extending more than 450 miles between Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, the Blue Ridge Parkway is a trip through the history of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the people who have lived here for hundreds of years. This meandering road ties together diverse landscapes and conserves architecture, industry and cultural traditions associated with the mountain communities of southern Appalachia. Visitors can while away an afternoon listening to traditional music at the Blue Ridge Music Center, learn about the life of early settlers at Mabry Mill, or peruse traditional arts and crafts at the Folk Art Center, among other adventures.
• Park Bluestone National Scenic River This scenic river is named after the rugged blue limestone that lines its bed at its origin in Virginia. The park begins approximately 5 miles south of the New River Gorge National River and is managed by the same park staff. The Bluestone offers hiking, biking, hunting, fishing and camping, and bobcats, otters, bears and a variety of birds thrive in the wild area. Visitors can explore a 10.5-mile trail between the adjacent Bluestone and Pipestem Resort State Parks to enjoy portions of the river. Visitors can also see more of the river by riding an aerial tramway in Pipestem State Park.
• Park Booker T. Washington National Monument This monument commemorates the tobacco farm where one of America's most prominent African-American leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was born into slavery in 1856. Washington spent his boyhood at the 207-acre estate until the Union victory in the Civil War freed his family. After the Civil War, Washington became the founder and first principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School. Later as an adviser, author and orator, he spoke to the new disenfranchisement of former slaves who suffered under discriminatory Jim Crow laws enacted in the post-Reconstruction period, and he helped to fight for educational and economic advancement in the African-American community.
• Park Boston African American National Historic Site In the early 1800s, the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston was home to one of the largest communities of free African Americans in the country. Unlike other U.S. states, Massachusetts effectively outlawed slavery in its constitution in 1783, decades before the 13th Amendment abolished slavery nationwide. Boston became a thriving center for the abolitionist movement and a critical link in the Underground Railroad. The historic site interprets 15 different structures in this storied neighborhood, including two important buildings, the Abiel Smith School and the African Meeting House, which combine to make up the Museum of African American History. Other historic buildings include a school, the homes of several prominent Boston African Americans and a memorial honoring the first regiment of African American troops to serve in the Civil War.
• Park Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Rich in history, the 34 beautiful islands and peninsulas of this national recreation area feature lighthouses, military sites, hiking trails and numerous other outdoor adventures. Walk in the steps of the Union soldiers who guarded Boston from their station at Fort Warren during the Civil War. Search the horizon for ships from Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, the second-oldest working lighthouse in the nation. Observe sea creatures in sun-warmed tidal pools and cast your line for striped bass and winter flounder. All of these adventures and more are an easy ferry ride from the city.
• Park Boston National Historical Park See 350 years come to life in a city that shaped the history of America as a colony and an independent nation. Walk the 2.5-mile Freedom Trail to explore 16 historic sites in the heart of the city, including the site of the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere’s house, the Old North Church and the Bunker Hill Monument — all icons of the American Revolution. In addition, visitors can see the U.S.S. Constitution, one of the first ships in the U.S. Navy, commissioned by President George Washington in 1797.
• Park Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site Brice Crossroads National Battlefield commemorates a June 10, 1864 Civil War battle near Tupelo, Mississippi, that resulted in a Confederate victory for Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Learn more about the battle and the larger war through interpretive trails at the park and at nearby visitor facilities at the Natchez Trace Parkway and Tupelo National Battlefield.
• Park Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park In 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously declared: “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” With this landmark decision, the United States put an end to racially segregated schools on the grounds that they violated the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection to all Americans.
• Park Bryce Canyon National Park This popular park is most famous for its colorful hoodoos, and there are more of these artfully eroded spires here than anywhere else on Earth. The area is not actually a canyon, however, but a series of amphitheaters which feature remarkable rock formations and extensive forests dominated with conifers, including ancient bristlecone pines. Together with Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks, Bryce Canyon is part of a geologic wonder known as the Grand Staircase, an immense area of rock with layered sedimentary formations ranging from 600 million to 2,000 million years old.
• Park Buck Island Reef National Monument This Caribbean park protects a small uninhabited island and the pristine elkhorn coral barrier reef that surrounds it, all about a mile and a half off the coast of St. Croix. Considered one of the finest marine gardens in the Caribbean, the monument protects a pristine underwater environment and habitat for rare and threatened species, including endangered leatherback and hawksbill turtles. Snorkelers can enjoy an interpretive underwater trail, one of only three such trails in the country.
• Park Buffalo National River The Buffalo is America's first national river and one of the last undammed rivers in the contiguous United States. Its 135 miles flow freely through beautiful Ozark forests and bluffs of limestone and sandstone, offering challenging whitewater conditions in the upper section and calmer Class I rapids in the middle and lower sections. There are not many roads or established overlooks in the park; the best way to experience the beauty of the water is to be out on it, navigating the cliffs, springs, waterfalls and multicolored rock. Just be alert and prepared for fast-changing conditions.
• Park Cabrillo National Monument This park celebrates the explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European to set foot on the California coast. A museum exhibition documents Cabrillo's life and travels, as well as early California native peoples and industries. The site also features abundant natural beauty: hillsides covered with flowers, birds nesting in the trees and lizards darting across every pathway. A lookout point near the park's Old Point Loma Lighthouse provides one of the best places anywhere on land to observe migrating gray whales.
• Park California National Historic Trail The California National Historic Trail traces the migration of farmers, settlers, gold miners and others who traveled by covered wagon from Missouri to California in the mid-1800s. The trail winds 2,000 miles from Missouri through Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada and Oregon to central California. Major highways follow the arduous path once taken by settlers traveling by horseback and covered wagon and historic sites along the way commemorate the westward migration.
• Park Camp Nelson National Monument Camp Nelson in Nicholasville, Kentucky served as one of the largest recruitment and training depots for United States Colored Troops. More than 23,000 African Americans from Kentucky served in the U.S. military and were recruited and trained at Camp Nelson during the Civil War. The history of Camp Nelson demonstrates the challenges formerly enslaved people faced as they began their lives as free men and women, and the ambivalence the federal government demonstrated when confronted with refugees of the slave system.
• Park Canaveral National Seashore Canaveral National Seashore is located on a barrier island off the east coast of Florida that features unspoiled beaches and over 100 middens — heaps of shells, broken pottery and discarded arrowheads left by the Timucuan Indians who were the area's first known inhabitants. The park also features remnants of a deserted Florida town settled by land speculators who settled on Mosquito Lagoon after the Civil War.
• Park Cane River Creole National Historical Park This park celebrates the shared history and blended traditions of the Natchitoches Indians and the French and Spanish settlers of the 18th and 19th centuries who called this region home. The 33-block National Historic Landmark District includes many well-preserved examples of Creole architecture. Visit forts, museums, and seven national and three state historic sites. Tour Oakland Plantation, Magnolia Plantation and Magnolia Manor House, among two dozen local properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
• Park Canyon De Chelly National Monument Three and a half hours east of the world-famous Grand Canyon, a majestic but much lesser-known canyon offers a more solitary Southwestern experience on colorful lands entirely within the Navajo Nation. Drive along the north and south rims to enjoy incredible vistas, including a view of the park’s dramatic 800-foot monolith, Spider Rock. Hike the only public trail (two and a half miles round-trip) into the canyon to see the White House Ruin left by Ancestral Puebloans. Hire a Navajo guide to explore even more of the canyon’s geology and learn about the native people who continue to live and grow food in the canyon as their families have for generations.
• Park Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park preserves an immense desert wilderness sculpted by the Green and Colorado rivers and featuring hundreds of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches and spires. The Island in the Sky District is the most accessible and popular section of the park — a mesa with spectacular views of the surrounding canyons. The Needles is a vaster territory below the Island in the Sky where visitors can hike among the sandstone spires and breathtaking rocks.
• Park Cape Cod National Seashore Famous for its windswept beaches and spectacular views, Cape Cod National Seashore offers a quintessentially New England experience, from Nauset Lighthouse to the seaside cottages that nestle among the dunes. The park’s 43,000 acres make up most of the curving peninsula between Chatham and Provincetown, featuring barrier islands, pine and oak forests, wild cranberry bogs, kettle ponds, tidal flats, and historic structures from the area's long maritime history.
• Park Cape Hatteras National Seashore This classic tourist destination became America's first national seashore in 1953 and covers more than 70 miles of coastline and 30,000 acres of beaches, dunes, marshes and woodlands in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The seashore preserves three iconic lighthouses, constructed to aid sailors navigating the cape’s perilous coastline. Visitors will also find a rich diversity of plant and animal life, including more than 360 documented bird species, and a range of historical sites commemorating maritime traditions, Civil War and World War II battles, and the U.S. Lifesaving Service, a predecessor to the Coast Guard.

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