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There are four types of volcanoes in the world: shield, composite, cinder cone and plug dome volcanoes. You'll find ALL FOUR of these types of volcanoes in the beautiful, Lassen Volcanic National Park! About 600k years ago, there was a massive volcano named Mount Tehama that eventually eroded into many smaller peaks, after being dormant for thousands of years. The area's hydrothermal alteration and glacial action were the main contributors to the erosion. Thanks to Mount Tehama, all the volcanos, every rock and every peak in the park originates from a volcano.  Lassen Peak The park is named after Lassen Peak, a plug...

About 130 miles south of the San Fransisco, you'll find Pinnacles National Park sitting right on the San Andreas fault line. About 23 million years ago, the now extinct Neenach Volcano spewed out magma and molten rock as the tectonic plates collided. This caused the creation of the pointy staggered rocks. "Pinnacles" in the park Over the last 23 million years, erosion and weather patterns have sculpted the rocks to the uniquely shaped "pinnacles" that the park now protects. In addition to the pinnacles, the park also has caves. These aren't ordinary caves, however, these are Talus Caves that were formed at the...

Yosemite, along with King's Canyon, was established as a US National Park in 1890. The two parks share the spot for the 3rd National Park in the US and the the world! Fun fact: Canada was the first country outside the US to establish a National Park in 1911. Although Yosemite became a park in 1890, President Abraham Lincoln signed the first Land Grant in the US in 1865 to protect the land where the park now exists.    John Muir is credited for the creation, protection and awareness of Yosemite as he would spend months at a time staying in...

In 1890, Kings Canyon National National Park was established as a national park...at the exact same time as Yosemite National Park, therefore, they both share the title as the Nation's 3rd National Park. This park was created to protect a massive sequoia that is named after General Ulysses Grant. In fact, the park shared the same name as the sequoia until it was changed to Kings Canyon in 1940.  General Grant Sequoia Tree President Franklin Roosevelt changed the name to incorporate the beautiful and vast Canyon that the park also protected. This canyon, now referred to as King's Canyon, sits right in...

Welcome to the first National Park established to protect a living organism: the Sequoia Trees. It's believed that an Austrian botanist named the tree species after a Cherokee Tribe member named Sequoyah! Sequoyah is credited for creating a writing and reading system for the Cherokee nation. Such an epic tribute that matches the epic trees that live in the park!  In fact, this park is home to the LARGEST TREE IN THE WORLD, by volume. There are taller trees and there are wider trees but no other tree has more wood in it's trunk than the tree named: General Sherman.  In...