Grand Teton National Park
We chose to stay in the lodge within the Grand Teton National Park to be present for the light throughout the day. In the Tetons, the light brushes the snow-capped peaks with soft pinks and golds in the morning with blue and silvers in the evening.
There is no way I could choose which national park is the most beautiful. Each holds its own character. But the Grand Tetons are one of those landscapes that stays with you. The mountains rise abruptly from, without foothills. The Tetons are geologically young mountains, still being lifted along a fault line that tilts the range upward while the valley sinks.
The preservation of this landscape was not easy. In 1929, Grand Teton National Park was established under President Calvin Coolidge, protecting the dramatic Teton Range itself. Yet, the valley of Jackson Hole was left outside of the Park’s boundaries. John D. Rockefeller, Jr recognizing the irreplaceable relationship between mountains and valley, purchased large tracts of land with the intention of donating them to the public. When resistance stalled progress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt intervened in 1943 and designated the area as a National Park.
Watching the light move across the Grand Tetons lingers in my memory years after our visit.
Read More From Nancy
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Some landscapes seem almost impossible to explain. Standing on the rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison, I found myself wondering how a river could create such a narrow, steep, and dramatic gorge. Unlike the broad vistas of the Grand Canyon, Black Canyon feels compressed. Towering cliffs plunge almost vertically toward the Gunnison River, and […]
Badlands National Park
One of my favorite family road trips during our homeschooling days was driving across the northern states to South Dakota. There were so many special places we stopped along the way, but none left a stronger impression on us than Badlands National Park. The landscape almost did not seem real the first time we saw it. Layer after […]
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Rainbow Bridge National Monument was established on May 30, 1910, to protect what is widely recognized as one of the world’s largest known natural bridges. Rising 290 feet above the canyon floor with a span of 275 feet, this extraordinary formation stands in the remote canyon country of southern Utah, where it has inspired awe […]
