ar. While the sand looks alluring, its chocolate color absorbs heat. The daylight sand temperature can reach 140 degrees and will burn bare feet. [18]
Park history
The dunes and surrounding area were designated a National Monument in 1932. On November twenty two, 2000, United States President Bill Clinton signed the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Act of 2000, aiming at ultimate national park status. With the help of the Nature Conservancy, the federal government purchased ninety seven thousand acres of the Baca Ranch, which in effect tripled the size of the park. The purchase includes those sections of the ranch which previously bordered the park on the north and west sides and also included fourteen thousand one hundred and sixty five feet Kit Carson Mountain and fourteen thousand and eighty feet subpeak Challenger Point, and the water drainages to the south . The land purchased was split into three sections. Part of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains would be transferred to the Rio Grande National Forest, another section to the west would be set aside as a wildlife area and would host a wild bison herd and the last section to the east would be transferred from the Rio Grande National Forest and would be open to some hunting. [20]
. Tourist trades and campings
Camping in America's national parks and monuments allows a visitor to more fully appreciate the beauty of America's natural treasures. Although sometimes crowded, National Park Service campgrounds generally offer spectacular scenery and plentiful activities. The campground at Devil's Tower National Monument (Wyoming) is situated in a grassy area with cottonwood trees lining the banks of the meandering Belle Fourche River. Campers can walk to a nearby prairie dog town or along a hiking trail that leads to the base of impressive Devil's Tower, a sacred site for many Native Americans. Flamingo Campground at the south end of Everglades National Park sits beside Florida Bay in a grassy area of ​​palm trees and serves as an ideal location for campers to enjoy bicycling, canoeing, and hiking. Nine campgrounds along the Blue Ridge Parkway have always been among our favorites. Generally uncrowded, these campgrounds are scattered along the four hundred and sixty nine-mile scenic parkway, offering convenient places to camp along the way. The campground on Georgia's Cumberland Island National Seashore sits in a grove of magnificent live oak trees and a short distance from one of the Atlantic Ocean's most beautiful and unpopulated beaches. Campers can walk to an old Carnegie family mansion that has been destroyed by fire. The photo above is of Big Meadows Campground in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. This park is best known for scenic Skyline Drive that winds along the crest of the Appalachians. p align="justify">...
