National Park System units or administrative areas dominate the recently released Smithsonian list of “The Ten Most Spectacular Geologic Sites” in America. Meanwhile, Yahoo! Travel has rated a geology-themed national park as one of “America’s Most Over-Rated Tourist Attractions.” Now that is a mixed bag!
Smithsonian considers these to be the ten must-see geologic sites in the continental United States (National Park Service-administered sites are boldfaced):
1. Grand Canyon (AZ)
2. Yellowstone National Park (WY/MO/ID)
3. Niagara Falls (NY)
4. Meteor Crater (AZ)
5. Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument (WA)
6. La Brea Tar Pits (CA)
7. San Andreas Fault at the Carrizo Plain (CA)
8. Mammoth Cave National Park (KY)
9. The Ice Age Flood Trail [sic] (WA/OR/ID)
10. Lava Beds National Monument (CA)
It’s easy to understand why fully half of the slots on the Smithsonian list are accounted for by places that are in the National Park System or administered by the National Park Service (in the case of Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail). After all, the bar is set very high for admittance to the National Park System. No site or area is supposed to make the cut if it isn’t truly exceptional in the national frame of reference.
This leaves us to wonder why Andrew Harper over at Yahoo! Travel has gone out of his way to single out Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park as one of America's most over-rated tourist attractions. This is what Mr. Harper has to say about visiting Petrified Forest:
From the north entrance of the park off of Interstate 40, a roughly 25-mile driving route meanders south among a spare expanse of rocks and sand, until you find yourself on Highway 180. Then you drive back up to Interstate 40 and continue on your way, an hour closer to the grave.
Hard to mistake the intent there! As diss-ing goes, this one is about as cruel as it gets. You can imagine what Mr. Harper has to say about Fisherman’s Wharf, Wall Street, Plymouth Rock, the Alamo, Hollywood, Bourbon Street, and RMS Queen Mary. These sites and Petrified Forest are all places that leave Mr. Harper “underwhelmed” or “exhausted.”
I’m curious to know whether these feelings are shared by Traveler readers who’ve visited Petrified Forest and the parks on Smithsonian’s list. Are the five NPS-administered sites on the Smithsonian list really the very best geologic sites in the Park System? Is Petrified Forest really a place that leaves visitors underwhelmed and disappointed?
Comments
@ ypw: The list was obviously composed to cover as many factors of geology as possible. And the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail stands for glacial erosion and other geological effects of the ice ages. Yosemite would be a duplicate. Arches, Zion, and the other iconic parks of the Colorado Plateau are covered by Grand Canyon.
Whether or not it's a duplicate, the key word would be "most spectacular". I've been to parts of the area that are covered, and I didn't consider any part I visited as spectacular as Yosemite Valley.
It's a bit odd that they would include an area roughly the size of New York State. If that was the case, they could include the entire Colorado River drainage basin which would include Grand Canyon NP and Canyonlands NP as well as several other NPS units. I just think their methodology is a little bit flawed if Yosemite Valley isn't considered one of the 10 "most spectacular" geological sites in the continental US.
This would be my top 5:
1) Yellowstone Caldera
2) Grand Canyon
3) Yosemite Valley (which would also cover several waterfalls)
4) Mount St Helens (I don't necessarily think of it as a place for an extended visit since the mountain has turned into what it is - a big brown landslide. It is a fascinating piece of geological history though)
5) Carlsbad Caverns (from reputation - I hope to make a visit).
Our family has visited three of the ten: Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Niagara Falls. We were suitably impressed. I studied Geology in college, and do appreciate what these sites have to offer. We hope to visit the other seven on the list, and more.
Regarding the Petrified Forest, we'd really like to go one day soon. I wrote an article on petrified wood, borrowing photos with permission from a nice family and other folks, who have been there. If you'd like to learn a little more about 'petwood', and why the interest, just read "Petrified Wood, Part I" at: http://www.delminsociety.net/motm/motm_feb2006.shtml and "Petrified Wood, Part II" at: http://www.delminsociety.net/motm/motm_mar2006.shtml.
Niagra, Mammoth Cave, LB Tar Pits! You gotta be kidding me! Who's list is this anyway? It completely omits the monocline of the Waterpocket Fold of Capitol Reef National Park, the coastal geology of Olympic, the arches of Arches, the evidence of the immense power of glaciers at Yosemite, and many others. While Mount St. Helens and Mammoth Cave are great places, they pale in comparison to geological wonders like Crater Lake (see above) and Carlsbad Caverns.
La Brea Tar Pits!? What the...?