Category Archives: National Parks Quiz

January 22, 2022 · 8:26 am

National Parks Quiz And Trivia #45

*Surrounded by gold in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming*

True or false: you can tell a bison’s mood by looking at its tail. That’s one of the questions in my latest National Parks Quiz and Trivia piece published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler. And no, I’m not going to tell you the answer. You’ll have to click on the link and take the quiz yourself (ok, ok, answers are at the bottom of the quiz, but really, see how much you know about the units in the National Park System before peeking at the answers).

To take the quiz and read the trivia, click on the image above.

As for this image, it was captured during my autumn 2019 visit to this national park. I was driving along the park road heading toward the turnoff to West Yellowstone and I saw this lone bison standing in a field of golden grass. I pulled off onto a wide shoulder to get the photo before continuing on to my destination of Fountain Flat Drive (where I ultimately dropped camera and lens and broke the teleconverter but thankfully, not the camera or lens ).

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August 20, 2021 · 6:19 am

Fun Fact Friday August 20, 2021

*Cooling down on a hot day in Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona)*

*Just a pair of ravens chilling out on a snowy winter day in Canyonlands National Park (Utah)*

It’s #FunFactFriday ! I have always liked ravens. I like crows too, but ravens more. So, here’s a few interesting facts about ravens. These birds are super smart and very curious. They are also quite acrobatic when flying, turning somersaults mid-air. They’ve got a vocabulary of about 30 calls (including flight calls, hunger calls, and danger calls) in addition to non-vocal communication (like snapping their beaks). Once mated, it’s for life, and they usually nest in the same location year after year.

You can tell the difference between ravens and crows in that (among other things), ravens are larger, have uneven tail feathers (which you can see when they fan them out) and have curvier beaks. Ravens usually travel in pairs while crows travel in larger groups (called “murders” as in a murder of crows).

When I stayed for a couple of days at the North Cascades Institute back in 2019, they talked about a pair of ravens they’d named Bonnie and Clyde. These ravens could unzip backpacks in their efforts to get at hikers’ food. I believe I actually met this pair one day while photographing at the Diablo Lake Overlook. They had landed on the fence railing and were eyeing my camera pack, then hopped down next to the pack. I had a feeling they were trying to figure out where the zippers were, so I had to shoo them away.

The one raven with its mouth open in the top photo is doing something you’ll see other birds doing: it’s called gular (goo-lur) fluttering and they do it to cool down on a hot day since they cannot sweat like humans do.

Oh, and while I am on the subject of fun facts, my latest quiz and trivia piece has been published in the National Parks Traveler. It’s all about “August notables.” To read the article, click on either of the images above.

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August 6, 2021 · 5:14 am

National Parks Quiz And Trivia #35: The Waterfall Edition

*The Weeping Wall along Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park (Montana)*

Ok, I’ll admit the image above is nothing to write home about, but I posted this because one of the quiz questions is about the Weeping Wall in my latest quiz and trivia piece published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler. It’s all about waterfalls in the national parks. Click on the link to test your knowledge about these sometimes-ephemeral, always beautiful cascades of water you might spy just off the side of the road or along the trail in a national park.

To take the quiz and read the trivia, just click on the image above.

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July 20, 2021 · 5:57 am

It’s Trivia Tuesday, July 20, 2021

*A View Of Goat Mountain, Big Bend National Park (Texas)*

*Wandering A Trail Amongst The Redwood Trees, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (California)*

*A Wide-Angle View Of Bryce Amphitheater Seen From Lower Inspiration Point, Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)*

*Soft Winter Morning Sunlight Over The Watchman And Virgin River, Zion National Park (Utah)*

It’s #TriviaTuesday ! So, what do Big Bend, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park all have in common? They are all a part of the National Park System (no duh, right?). And the National Park System is overseen by the National Park Service. And who helped persuade Congress to create the National Park Service? One Stephen Tyng Mather, born July 4. So, in addition to celebrating Independence Day on July 4, we should also have lit a birthday candle to this man who “laid the foundation of the National Park Service, defining and establishing the policies under which its areas shall be developed and conserved, unimpaired for future generations. There will never come an end to the good he has done …”

And, speaking of Stephen Mather, today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler has published my latest quiz and trivia piece. It’s all about July notables, including Stephen Mather.

To test your national parks knowledge and maybe learn a little something, too, just click on any of the images above.

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May 22, 2021 · 6:03 am

National Parks Quiz And Trivia: May Notables

*Late Afternoon In Many Glacier, Glacier National Park (Montana)*

The National Parks Traveler recently published my latest quiz and trivia piece. It’s all about May notables: Glacier National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Crater Lake National Park. These parks were established in the month of May. If you are interested in testing your knowledge about these parks, then click on the image above.

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April 23, 2021 · 5:30 am

National Parks Quiz And Trivia: April Notables

*An overview of Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)*

So, what do John Muir, Ulysses S. Grant, Voyageurs National Park, and Isle Royale National Park all have in common? They are all April notables. The two parks were established in April, Ulysses S. Grant (born in April) signed legislation establishing Yellowstone as the first U.S. national park (hence the image below), and, also born in April, John Muir’s writings convinced the U.S. government to protect Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, and Mount Rainier as national parks.

The latest quiz and trivia piece penned by yours truly and published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler is all about these April notables. To test your knowledge about these notables and maybe learn a little something, too, click on the image above.

And, speaking of this image, I was pretty tickled that I finally got to visit this part of Yellowstone, back in autumn of 2019. When I’d tried to see this (and other sights) during my 2018 summer move from TX to WA, I couldn’t because all the parking spaces were filled, and – to be honest – I was starting to tire out from my road trip, as it was going on 3 weeks now that I’d been on the road. Autumn is a good time to visit Yellowstone, with the caveat that it might snow on you and roads might get closed because of the weather. There are still crowds there, but nothing on the scale (not yet, anyway) that there are during the height of summer.

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April 9, 2021 · 3:31 am

National Parks Quiz and Trivia #28 – The Spring Wildflower Edition

*Blooming claret cup cactus in Big Bend National Park (Texas)*

It’s time to test your knowledge with my latest quiz and trivia piece published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler. It’s all about spring wildflowers in the national park system. See just how much you know and maybe learn something new.

To take the quiz, click on the image above. After you’ve finished with the quiz, take a look at the other articles in today’s edition of the Traveler, while you are at it.

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March 8, 2021 · 5:49 am

National Parks Quiz And Trivia #26 – Superlatives

*A Lakeside View, Crater Lake National Park (Oregon)*

Crater Lake National Park is one of the parks mentioned in my latest National Parks Quiz And Trivia piece, published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler. Jumpstart your Monday with a test to see how much you know about the national parks – you might even learn something you didn’t know!

To look at the quiz and trivia piece, click on the image above.

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February 10, 2021 · 8:07 am

National Parks Quiz and Trivia #24

*Evening Blues And Greens, Lake Clark National Park And Preserve*

After I published that food photo post, I remembered my latest national parks quiz and trivia piece #24 had been published in the National Parks Traveler a couple of days ago.

The image was captured back in 2014 during an organized photo tour I’d taken to Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, ostensibly to photograph the Alaskan brown bears. Turns out, while we got bear photos (thank goodness a mom and her two cubs were around the entire time we were there), we also captured landscape images during those times when no bears were available for their Demille close-ups (has anybody ever watched “Sunset Boulevard”?).

Click on the image above to go see how much you really know about national parks, and learn some stuff, too. I find with every quiz piece I create, I realize just how much I don’t know about national parks, and how much I really do learn.

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January 19, 2021 · 5:38 am

It’s Trivia Tuesday 1-19-2021!

*Rainbow Falls, Outside Of Stehekin, WA, in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area*

Did you know the North Cascades was so named after its numerous cascading waterfalls, including Rainbow Falls, pictured here, located within the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area portion of the North Cascades National Park Complex? This two-tiered waterfall is a total of 390 feet tall and is one of those must-sees whenever one visits the small community of Stehekin, located about 5 miles, give or take, from the waterfall.

You can learn more North Cascades trivia, and also test your North Cascades knowledge with the latest quiz and trivia piece I penned for the National Parks Traveler.

To take the quiz and learn more about the North Cascades National Park Complex, just click on the image above.

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