Day 4 (D-57) The Great Sand Dunes National Park

Day 4  (D-57) Great Sand Dunes National Park

Colorado has 4 National Parks.  2 for us to visit:

1.  Rocky Mountains National Park.  We'll see these beautiful mountains around us, but no time to visit the park.

2. The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

3. Mesa Verde National Park

4.  Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (sorry, but we won't have time for this one.)

You haven't forgotten what a fourteener is, have you?  If you don't remember, go back to D-3 where you'll find the answer.  Before today's information about the beautiful Great Sand Dunes National Park, here is a little music from John Denver as we take in the majestic mountains around us.  

Rocky Mountain High (1976) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWooDCkkkVQ

I love this song.

♬

"Cathedral mountains, silver clouds, forests, streams, blue mountain lakes...  ♬

AND

                       Colorado's Great Sand Dunes

The park was originally designated Great Sand Dunes National Monument on March 17, 1932 by President Herbert Hoover.

The park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America.The tallest dune is 750 feet high (228m) at an elevation of 8,700 feet (2652m) above sea level. The oldest evidence of humans in the area goes back about 11,000 years.  They were nomadic hunter-gatherers whose connection to the area centered around the herds of mammoths and prehistoric bison. Over 200 ponderosa pine trees that were historically used for food and medicine by American Indian tribes are protected by the park. On September 24, 2004 these dunes became The Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Click here:  https://www.mycoloradoparks.com/things-to-do/things-to-do-great-sand-dunes 

Look at the photos.  Just read a little, if you like.  Can you remember all 10 suggestions of things to do in this National Park?  Read the titles and then test your memory.

My best,

Jane

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National Monument:  : an area /a place of historic, scenic, or scientific interest set aside for preservation usually by presidential proclamation  

Statue of Liberty National Monument

Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming, the first National Monument (1906)

National Park:  an area of special scenic, historical or scientific importance set aside and maintained by a national government and in the U.S. by an act of Congress.

There are 61 National Parks operated by the National Park Service (NPS).  Yellowstone National Park, the first national park. (1872)

--preserve = a noun here -->  an area restricted for the protection and preservation of natural resources (such as animals or plants)  In French, une réserve!
--herds = troupeaux