Ghost orchid, Big Cypress National Preserve / Tony Pernas via NPS

“Knowledge is power,” so the saying goes. Just how knowledgeable are you about the units of the National Park System? You may know more than you realize, and you can put your knowledge to the test with this latest quiz and trivia piece.

1. Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida is home to 30 species of orchid, including the rare ghost orchid, of which there are only 2,000 known to be growing in the wilds of South Florida. The ghost orchid requires the aid of a specific pollinator known as the ___ to transfer the orchid’s pollen for continued propagation

                a) Brimstone moth

                b) Sphinx moth

                c) Atlas moth

                d) Luna moth

Prairie dogs are a black-footed ferret's favorite meal, Badlands National Park / Rebecca Latson

2. Prairie dogs are a black-footed ferret’s favorite food at Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Ok, prairie dogs are the main food for this ferret. Black-footed ferrets feed on ___ prairie dogs per year.

                a) 100

                b) 200

                c) 300

                d) 400

Exploring the Glenlyon shipwreck, Isle Royale National Park / NPS file

3. Isle Royale National Park in Michigan is home to 25 shipwrecks, ___ of which are listed on the National Register.

                a) 5

                b) 10

                c) 15

                d) 20

A wall of bones at the Quarry Exhibit Hall, DInosaur National Monument / NPS file

4. If you have ever visited Dinosaur National Monument, straddling Utah and California, you’ve viewed the 150-million-year-old fossils on exhibit in the park’s Quarry Exhibit Hall (located on the Utah side). One of the things necessary for something to become a fossil is a method of preservation. There are ___ methods whereby a dead organism may be preserved as a fossil.

                a) Two

                b) Three

                c) Four

                d) Five

Cleaveland Avenue is an example of one of the passageway types at Mammoth Cave National Park / NPS file

5. Mammoth Cave, at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, has ___ main types of cave passages.

                a) 1

                b) 2

                c) 3

                d) 4

The Kentucky cave shrimp, Mammoth Cave National Park / USFWS

6. Let’s stick with Mammoth Cave a little longer. This subterranean environment is home to some unique wildlife, such as eyeless fish, very long-legged cave crickets, and translucent cave shrimp found only in the vicinity of Mammoth Cave National Park and nowhere else. There are ___ different categories into which wildlife found within caves are placed.

                a) 2

                b) 3

                c) 4

                d) 5

Similar to a cattle brand, these cast-iron instruments were used to leave the mark of the logger/company on the butt-end of a log, Voyageurs National Park / Ed Heimel

7. In the 1880s and 1890s, a logging frenzy occurred within what is now Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. White pine was the primary tree logged because it was a large, easy to work tree with straight grain and very little shrinkage. With so many logging operations, there needed to be a way to identify one logger/logging company from another. A method analogous to cattle branding was used whereby a metal stamp with raised letters or a design was hammered into the butt of a log, leaving an indentation bearing the impression of the stamp. These stamps were known as ___.

                a) Logging marks

                b) Logging presses

                c) Logging coins

                d) Logging irons

The historic Assateague Lighthouse, just before getting its daymark (stripe around the tower), Assateague Island National Seashore / USFWS

8. True or False: the Assateague Lighthouse on the Virginia side of Assateague Island National Seashore is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States.

                a) True

                b) False

A pitcher plant, of the carnivorous plants you'll see on a visit to Big Thicket National Preserve / NPS-Chuck Hunt

9. True or False: four of the five types of carnivorous plants in North America are found at Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas.

                a) True

                b) False

Glaciers are literally "rivers of ice" and can carry debris many miles from their origin, Denali National Park and Preserve / Rebecca Latson

10. According to the United States Geological Survey, there are over 400 glaciers in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Of these glaciers, only ___ are named.

                a) 40

                b) 60

                c) 85

                d) 110

Trivia

In honor of Black History Month, the trivia in this February quiz comes from units of the National Park System which commemorate, celebrate, and preserve the legacy, experiences, and accomplishments of African Americans.

A studio portrait of Maggie L. Walker ca 1926-1930, Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site / Scurlock Studio via NPS

How many of you have ever visited the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site in Virginia?

According to the National Park Service:

Mrs. Walker became the first African American woman to charter a bank. She also owned a newspaper and a store 17 years before American women had the right to vote, and fostered black entrepreneurialism when Jim Crow laws threatened African American progress.

First and foremost of Maggie Walker’s objectives was the creation of a bank. Banks represented the pinnacle of financial achievement to many people. To Walker, a bank would combat the oppressive conditions of racial segregation while encouraging economic independence and thrift in the black community. Relegated to second-class citizenship, African Americans were denied rights in all aspects of life: education, employment, politics, and business. Walker's bank, along with other black-owned businesses, provided spaces to conduct business away from the racism and harsh treatment often found in white-owned businesses.

On November 2, 1903, the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank opened for business at the St. Luke Headquarters Building at 900 St. James Street … Nearly 300 eager customers … waited patiently to open bank accounts. While some people deposited more than one hundred dollars, others started accounts with just a few dollars, including one person who deposited just 31 cents. At the end of the day, the bank had 280 deposits, totaling over $8,000, and sold $1,247.00 worth of stock, bringing the total to $9,340.44.

Back in the day, that was a lot of money!

An early Nicodemus homestead, Nicodemus National Historic Site / Library of Congress via NPS

Nicodemus National Historic Site in Kansas represents the involvement of African Americans in the homesteading movement across the Great Plains. It is the oldest and only remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi River.

According to the National Park Service:

Formerly enslaved African Americans left Kentucky at the end of the post-Civil War Reconstruction Period to experience freedom in the "Promised Land" of Kansas. The five historic buildings at this national historic site located in northwestern Kansas on Highway 24 between Hill City and Stockton tell the stories of the people who lived there and the community they built. This site represents the spirit of Nicodemus - church, self-government, education, home, and business, illustrating the individual and collective strength of character and desire for freedom of these early pioneers who established Nicodemus. As such, the five historic buildings were declared the 355th unit of the National Park System on November 12, 1996.

A studio portrait of Major Charles Young, Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument / Library of Congress via NPS

The Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio celebrates both the life and legacy of Charles Young and of the Buffalo Soldiers.

According to the National Park Service:

[Established in 2013,] this national monument honors soldier, diplomat, and civil rights leader, Charles Young, who overcame stifling inequality to become a leading figure in the years after the Civil War when the United States emerged as a world power. His work ethic, academic leadership, and devotion to duty provided a strong base for his achievements in the face of racism and oppression. His long and distinguished career as a commissioned officer in the United States Army made him a popular figure of his time and a role model for generations of new leaders.

Among his accomplishments, Charles Young served as Captain in the Ninth Cavalry, also known as the Buffalo Soldiers, and later rose to the rank of colonel. The Buffalo Soldiers fought for the United States from the 1860s through the 1950s. Among other things, their duties included protecting travelers in the desert southwest, bringing law and order to the gold rush region of Alaska and fulfilling the roles of the first park rangers in the country's national parks.

In the late 1800s, approximately 500 Buffalo Soldiers served in Yosemite National Park and nearby Sequoia National Park with duties from evicting poachers and timber thieves to extinguishing forest fires.

Quiz Answers

1b

The ghost orchid requires the aid of a specific pollinator – the sphinx moth – for continued propagation of the species. At one time, it was believed only the giant sphinx moth could pollinate the ghost orchid, but a 2019 National Geographic article indicates several species of sphinx moths are capable of pollinating this rare orchid.

2a

According to Badlands staff, it takes 100 prairie dogs per year to feed a black-footed ferret.

3b

According to the National Park Service, there are 10 shipwrecks beneath the waters of Lake Superior at Isle Royale National Park that are listed on the National Register: Algoma, America, Henry Chisholm, Chester A. Congdon, George M. Cox, Cumberland, Emperor, Glenlyon, Kamloops, and Monarch. Click here to read more about these sunken ships.

4c

There are four methods of preservation whereby a dead organism may become a fossil:

• Replacement - water rich in dissolved minerals replacing the dead organism’s organic materials.
• Permineralization – minerals filling spaces (ex. porous bone within the hard parts of an organism.
• Compression - flattened remains of plants or soft-bodied animals preserved as carbon films.
• Mold and Cast – organisms leaving impressions in the sediment (molds) and sediment filling that mold being to create a cast of the original.

To read more about Dinosaur National Monument’s fossils, click here.

5c

Mammoth Cave has three main types of cave passages, variations of which form from these three main types: tube passages, canyon passages, and vertical shafts. You can read more about these passage types, karst geology, and Mammoth Cave’s formation by clicking here.

6b

There are three different categories into which wildlife found within Mammoth Cave and other caves are placed: trogloxenes, troglophiles, and troglobites. To read more about these categories and about Mammoth Cave’s wildlife, click here.

7a

Logging marks, similar in concept to cattle brands, were used to identify the person or company that cut the trees in northern forests. You can read more about logging marks in this 2020 Traveler article.

8b False

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Cape Hatteras National Seashore / NPS file

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina is not only the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States, but also the second tallest brick lighthouse in the world, measuring 198.49 feet (60.5 meters). The Assateague Lighthouse is 142 feet (43.3 meters) tall. You can read about the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in this 2024 Traveler Feature Story by Contributing Editor Kim O’Connell.

9a True

Of the five types of carnivorous plants found in North America, Big Thicket National Preserve is home to four: pitcher plant, sundew, bladderwort, and butterwort. You can read more about these plants at this national preserve in this 2021 Traveler Feature Story by contributing writer Barbara ‘Bo’ Jensen.

10 a

Of the over 400 glaciers in Denali National Park, there are only 40 named glaciers. Of those 40, Ruth Glacier is the thickest glacier, at 3,805 feet (1,160 meters), and Kahiltna Glacier is the longest, at 44 miles (70.8 kilometers).