Lake Chelan on a hazy summer day, North Cascades National Park Complex / Rebecca Latson

The National Park System is full of superlatives: the biggest, the smallest, the longest, the deepest, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. As a matter of fact, Professor Bob Janiskee created a “Biggest This Or That” quiz for the Traveler back in 2011, as well as a number of other superlative-themed quizzes. I wanted to create a quiz about National Park System superlatives, too, so this quiz #26 takes a look at these superlatives. Now, I had not looked at Professor Janiskee’s quizzes prior to writing this #26, so some of my questions are the same as his and I ended up using one of his questions verbatim for this quiz because it was a great question I hadn’t thought of. I also looked further into another of his questions and used it for one of the trivia items at the bottom of this piece.

See how much you know first before looking at the answers.

1. The smallest park site in the National Park System is:

               a) Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial

               b) Hot Springs National Park

               c) General Grant National Memorial

               d) African Burial Ground National Monument

2. The largest park unit in the National Park System is:

               a) Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

               b) Denali National Park and Preserve

               c) Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

               d) Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve

3. Which national park unit is home to the longest cave system?

               a) Carlsbad Caverns National Park

               a) Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve

               c) Wind Cave National Park

               d) Mammoth Cave National Park

4. Within the National Park System, which body of water is the deepest?

               a) Crescent Lake, Olympic National Park

               b) Lake Chelan, North Cascades National Park Complex

               c) Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park

               d) Lake Mead, Lake Mead National Recreation Area

5. Which National Park unit is home to the tallest mountain?

               a) Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

               b) Denali National Park and Preserve

               c) Great Basin National Park

               d) Mount Rainier National Park

6. The National Park System is home to a number of rare species of flowers, some of which grow no place else. One rare flower is the ghost orchid, which can be found in:

               a) Big Cypress National Preserve

               b) Big Thicket National Preserve

               c) Great Smoky Mountains National Park

               d)  Congaree National Park

7. The National Park System is filled with waterfalls, long, short, big, and small. As a matter of fact, the tallest waterfall in the United States is located in Yosemite National Park:

               a) Horsetail Fall

               b) Ribbon Fall

               c) Bridalveil Fall

               d) Yosemite Falls

New River Gorge Bridge with fall colors, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve / Gary Hartley

8. True or False: The New River Gorge Bridge in New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is not only the longest steel arch bridge in the National Park System, but in the world.

               a) True

               b) False

9. True or False: the Wawona Tunnel in Yosemite National Park is the longest tunnel in a national park.

               a) True

               b) False

10. “The biggest battlefield park in America is also the biggest military park in the world”:

               a) Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park

               b) Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

               c) Gettysburg National Military Park

               d) Shiloh National Military Park

Trivia

An apricot-laden tree and the Pendleton barn, Capitol Reef National Park / NPS-Shauna Cotrell

A number of units within the National Park System have orchards from which visitors can partake of their bounty, such as the Buckner Orchard, near Stehekin in the North Cascades National Park Complex, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site’s apple orchard, and of course, the orchards of the Fruita Rural Historic Landscape in Capitol Reef National Park. As a matter of fact, Capitol Reef National Park has the biggest collection of orchards in a park unit, totaling almost 3,000 acres.

Lake Yellowstone Hotel and a yellow bus, Yellowstone National Park / NPS-Neal Herbert

How many of you have enjoyed a stay at Lake Yellowstone Hotel & Cottages, in Yellowstone National Park? At 130 years of age, it’s one of the oldest national park hotels in the country and is a National Historic Landmark. Originally, this 3-story hotel offered 80 rooms, but later renovations brought that number up to 153 (per a 2015 news release by Xanterra; a 2016 blog post by Scenic Safaris puts the room count at 210).

Sandy Hook Lighthouse, Gateway National Recreation Area / Robert B. Hillman

While we are on the subject of oldest, let’s take a quick trip out to Gateway National Recreation Area to visit the Sandy Hook Lighthouse – America’s oldest continuously operating lighthouse. “A committee of prominent New York citizens was authorized to establish the lottery and purchase “a small quantity of land” at the tip of Sandy Hook to build a lighthouse. Negotiations with Robert and Esek Hartshorne, the owners of Sandy Hook, resulted in the purchase, on May 16, 1762, of four acres of “barren, sandy soil… for the moderate price of 750 pounds.” The June 18, 1764 edition of the New York Mercury reported that: “On Monday Evening last June 11, 1764), the NEW-YORK LIGHT HOUSE erected at Sandy Hook was lighted for the first Time. The House is of an Octagonal Figure, having eight equal Sides; the diameter at the Base, 29 Feet; and at the Top of the Wall, 15 Feet. The Lanthorn (lantern house) is 7 Feet high; the Circumference 33 feet. The whole Construction of the Lanthorn is Iron; the Top covered with Copper. There are 48 Oil Blazes. The Building from the Surface is Nine Stories; the whole from Bottom to top, 103 feet.” To pay for the operation and maintenance of the new lighthouse, the Colony of New York authorized a tonnage tax of three pence per ton on ships sailing into the harbor. This enabled the Port of New York to maintain the tower, pay a keeper’s salary, and make a small profit from any surplus tax money.” To read even more about the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, click here.

Quiz Answers

1a

According to the National Park Service, the smallest national park site is Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, located in Pennsylvania, at about 0.02 acres (approximately 81 square meters). This memorial preserves the house “where wounded Polish freedom fighter Thaddeus Kosciuszko lived.” This “brilliant military engineer designed successful fortifications during the American Revolution.” To read more about this Polish hero, click here.

2c

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, located in Alaska, encompasses a whopping 13.2 million acres (20,625 square miles or 53,419 square kilometers). “The park is the same size as Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined!”

3d

Mammoth Cave National Park currently has the world’s longest cave system, with more than 400 miles of explored cave and the potential for another 600 miles within its system. “Mammoth Cave National Park is home to thousands of years of human history and a rich diversity of plant and animal life, earning it the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.” To read more about cave and karst systems, click here.

Blue water, blue sky, Crater Lake National Park / Rebecca Latson

4c

“Native Americans witnessed its formation 7,700 years ago, when a violent eruption triggered the collapse of a tall peak. Scientists marvel at its purity: fed by rain and snow, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the USA (1,943 feet; 592 meters) and one of the most pristine on earth.” As for the other lakes listed in this question: Crescent Lake is 624 feet (190 meters), Lake Chelan is 1,486 feet (453 meters), and Lake Mead’s maximum depth is 532 feet (162 meters).

Clouds around Denali, Denali National Park and Preserve / Rebecca Latson

5b

Mount Denali is the highest mountain, not only within the National Park System, but in the entire United States, with an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 meters). Mount Saint Elias, in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, is 18,009 feet (5,489 meters) tall. Wheeler Peak, in Great Basin National Park, has an elevation of 13,065 feet (2,305 meters), and Mount Rainier, in Mount Rainier National Park, has an elevation of 14,410 feet (4,392 meters).

Ghost orchid, Big Cypress National Preserve / National Park Service

6a

“Big Cypress National Preserve is home to over 30 species of orchids. The ghost orchid's tangled mass of green roots clings tightly to the trunks of various tree species including cypress, pond apple, and maple and is visible year-round. It is distinguished from other species of orchid by the presence of thin white markings dotting its roots. In June and July, at the peak of mosquito season, the ghost orchid blooms. At night, it is pollinated by the sphinx moth, whose long tongue or proboscis allows it to receive a sweet reward of nectar from the flower that is not easily reached by other insects.” To read more about the ghost orchid, click here.

7d

Ok, you might think this is a trick question. Ribbon Fall is the longest single drop waterfall, at a height of 1,612 feet (491 meters), but the question is asking for the tallest waterfall, regardless of whether it’s a single-drop or a multiple-cascade fall. So, the answer is Yosemite Falls, with a height of 2,425 feet (739 meters). To read more about Yosemite Falls and other waterfalls in Yosemite National Park, click here.

8b False

At one time, the New River Gorge Bridge was, indeed, the longest steel arch bridge in the world. But in 2003, it was eclipsed by China’s Shanghai’s Lupu Bridge. New River Gorge Bridge, is, however, currently the longest single-span steel arch bridge in the United States. To read more about this bridge (one of the most photographed places in West Virginia), click here. 

The entrance to the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, Zion National Park / Rebecca Latson

9b False

Another tricky one! The Wawona Tunnel, at 4,233 feet (1,290 meters), is the longest highway tunnel in California. But the length of the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel in Zion National Park beats out the Wawona Tunnel as well as being the longest tunnel within a national park, running a length of 1.1 miles (1.77 kilometers). To read more about the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway and Tunnel, click here.

A foggy morning over the cannons, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park / National Park Service

10b

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park is the biggest battlefield park in America, encompassing 9,036 acres (~37 square kilometers). In 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought for control of Chattanooga, known as the "Gateway to the Deep South." The Confederates were victorious at nearby Chickamauga in September. However, renewed fighting in Chattanooga that November provided Union troops victory and control of the city. After the fighting, a Confederate soldier ominously wrote, "This...is the death-knell of the Confederacy." To read more about this national military park, click here.

References

https://www.npca.org/articles/471-small-wonders-the-12-teeniest-national-park-sites

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/nps-100-superlatives/index.html

https://www.doi.gov/blog/mammoth-cave-explore-worlds-longest-cave#:

https://www.geographyrealm.com/the-highest-11-mountains-in-the-united-states/