Yellowstone National Park: A Look At One Of The World's Greatest Natural Wonders (VIDEO/PHOTO)

From BBC Earth:

Once hailed as 'America's best idea', Yellowstone was the world's first national park.

Changing the way we interact with nature, the Pulitzer prize-winning author Wallace Stegner put it best when he said national parks "reflect us at our best, not our worst".

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In the gigantic 3.5 million square miles of land, Yellowstone is host to a large number of interesting animal species, including bison, cougars, lynx, bobcats and coyotes.

The whole park actually sits on a caldera, often referred to as a 'supervolcano', and has at its heart the same conditions that brought about the start of life on Earth. This means it holds one of the world's natural wonders, as you can see in this video.

The volcano means Yellowstone remains geologically very active. Recent changes in the volcanic springs have killed these pines by cooking their roots, as the branches freeze in winter.

It's safe to say that Yellowstone is a place of natural beauty that's inspired conservation and preserved countless areas of outstanding natural interest around the world.

Comments

[jessywat]

05:51 AM on 02/22/2011

Yellowstone has abundant recreational options, including camping, hiking, boating, sightseeing, and fishing. Paved roads supply close entrée to the key geothermal areas with a few of the lakes as well as the waterfalls.
http://www.expeditionamerica.net/yellowstone-national-park.html

[JoeMar]

10:26 PM on 02/21/2011

So when do they sell it to developers?

[BluePhantom2]

07:01 PM on 02/12/2011

Truly a wonder to behold.

[JScott]

11:14 AM on 02/10/2011

I remember visiting it growing up, camping there, seeing the fumaroles and old faithful, fishing on Yellowstone Lake and the wildlife, ah memories.

One thing I found distrurbing is people throwing coins into the hot springs, I dunno the reason, this wasn't a shopping mall fountain or Disneyland, has people become so removed from nature that they think it's all Disneyland?

[BeamMeUpScottie]

09:24 PM on 02/09/2011

An amazing place. Like a zoo w/o cages as well as the natural beauty. I could spend a lifetime there photographing.

[GreenKate]

10:20 AM on 02/09/2011

We must be constantly vigilant about our public lands. Many on the Right would love to sell it to their rich friends, and our current budget woes will be used as an excuse.

[mlaiuppa]

03:52 AM on 02/09/2011

I would love to visit there someday.

[gene-garcon]

05:44 PM on 02/08/2011

This is quite possibly the most beautiful national park I've been to in the US! It is a bit nerve-racking that the supervolcano that the park sits on has been quite active the past couple years.

[schatsie]

10:32 PM on 02/11/2011

and considering that it is at about 7000 feet, it is really astonishing....and every year some fool gets boiled to death, every year some fool gets messed up by a buffalo....

[ChicagoBob]

05:41 AM on 02/12/2011

If it blows, when it blows, it will knock down every building in the US and Canada.

[amaboss52]

05:32 PM on 02/08/2011

We went on horseback in the summer time, took us about 5 days to get through probably 90% of the park. Absolutely breathtaking!

[JaxReader]

07:44 PM on 02/09/2011

Wow, that has to be amazing. I would love to do that.

[amaboss52]

01:21 PM on 02/10/2011

It was fantastic, we had great weather and one of the men was a chef/caterer so we ate well. The only negative was that we all carried some kind of firearm because of the threat of grizzley bears and mountain lions. We saw lots of them, bears that is, none of them bothered us. It was one of the best vacations I ever had.

[maslin]

01:09 PM on 02/10/2011

Sounds awesome.

[amaboss52]

01:21 PM on 02/10/2011

It was, one of the best vacations ever.

[hrhsar]

05:10 PM on 02/08/2011

Yellowstone the most dangerous Volcano of them all to top it off it's also the most likely to blow when that isn't as clear as the time since is a sign the time next will be too late. Are we ready for that I don't think so even though we know we would rather let time pass until it's too late. Like most things we do.

[Aquest]

07:54 PM on 02/08/2011

When they say its a 'super volcano' or a 'mega volcano' they are saying it will be so big that preparation would be useless. It is several 100,000's late for its next eruption and some scientists thing it will be so big that it will destroy all life on earth. Live for the day...

[Morgantheaxe]

02:25 AM on 02/09/2011

Also consider that the swelling around the caldera has made some lakeshores move as much as 14ft.

[silverwolf13]

12:37 AM on 02/10/2011

Yellowstone last erupted some 600,000 years ago, and it seems to be on a cycle of major eruptions every 600,000 years or so. The next eruption could be next year or in 50,000 years. But neither Yellowstone nor any other supervolcano has wiped out all life on earth. Civilization, of course, is another matter.

[KarlaElisa]

03:57 PM on 02/08/2011

Beautiful!

[schatsie]

10:34 PM on 02/11/2011

better than the Mona Lisa.....