NATURAL BEAUTIES OF THE USA
 

ALASKA - AMERICA'S LAST GREAT WILDERNESS

    A few years ago, John and Barbara Stratton took their four children and left New York City. They moved to a small village in Alaska. They built a wooden house, and now they lead a simple but healthy life. In the short summer, they grow their own vegetables, and John catches fish - the great American salmon - and crab to earn money. The Strattons are among the new pioneers of America's last great wilderness.
    Many people have come north to the largest state in the USA to look for a more peaceful life, or to enjoy the beauty of nature and the freedom of Alaska's wide open spaces. Some newcomers prefer a life alone in the wilderness. Other people come to Alaska's growing cities to work in the fishing and lumber industries and the oil business.
    There are several very large national parks in Alaska. Mt. McKinley in Denali National Park is 20,230 feet high. It is the highest mountain in North America. At Glacier Bay National Park, huge walls of ice move slowly down from the mountains into the sea. The glacier walls are about two hundred feet high at the ocean's edge. The long, narrow openings in the coast at Kenai Fjords National Park are like fjords of Norway. Over 100,000 birds live along the high cliffs, and whales live in the blue waters of the fjords. Lake Clark National Park is only 150 miles from Anchorage, but there are no roads. People fly to Lake Clark to fish and watch the many kinds of wild birds.
    One of the most special things abut Alaska is the wildlife. You can see thousands of caribou crossing the flat grasslands of the north, and huge grizzly bears in the forests. In the fall, salmon swim up the Chilkat River and bald eagles gather in the trees above. Both visitors and local people hunt the great wild animals for food and for sport. And many Alaskan Natives, including Eskimos, Aleuts and Athapascan tribal people, still live in the old way and catch animals, whales, and fish.

CARLSBAD CAVERN

    NM, includes the largest natural cave room in the world.

THE ROCKY COAST OF MAINE
 
    The first English settlers built towns from Maine in the north of the United States to Virginia in the south. In these Atlantic coast states, there have always been fishermen and boat builders. In modern times, the northeast coast has also become a place of summer houses for the rich, a workplace for writers and artists, and a popular vacation area for city people. But many people there still make their living from the sea.
    Fishing is hard work and you can't always be sure to catch anything, as every Maine fisherman will tell you. Fishermen start work at four o'clock in the morning. The weather is changeable; fogs and terrible storms can come very suddenly. In winter it snows and is freezing cold. Sometimes fishermen are killed at sea. Many lighthouses have been built on the Maine coast to warn seamen of dangerous rocks.
    Sometimes the fishermen can't catch enough fish. But when there are too many fish on the market, the price goes down, and fishermen don't make much money. Sometimes the government makes fishermen throw fish back into the sea, because the number of fish is getting too small.
    There are over three thousand islands along the Maine coast. Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park is one of the most famous. Acadia is the only national park in the northeastern United States. Here, the cold waters of the north Atlantic crash against tall cliffs and onto rocky beaches.
    Whales swim in the ocean and deer live in the forests. There are over three hundred types of birds in the park, and five hundred kinds of wild flowers. The American millionaire John D. Rockefeller gave some land to start Acadia National Park. Now about four million visitors come every year to enjoy this beautiful area of Maine's rocky coast.

DESERTS
 
    In the nineteenth century Americans from the eastern U.S.A. moved out west to the rich new Iands of the Pacific Coast. The most difficult part of their trip was crossing the "Great American Desert" of the western United States by horse or wagon.
   MONUMENT VALLEY The western deserts can be very dangerous. There is Iittle water and there are few trees. But the desert also has scenery of great beauty. Monument valley covers parts of four U.S. states : Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Tall towers of red and yellow stone rise sharply from the flat, sandy valley floor. The scene has been photographed many times in movies, and for TV commercials for everything from cars to computers. In Arizona, man-made dams across the Colorado River have made two large lakes in the middle of the dry desert country.
   LAKE POWELL At Lake Powell, the red stone arch of Rainbow Bridge rises high above the blue lake. There are few roads. Many areas of Lake Powell's shore can only be reached by boat or on foot. But hikers in this empty desert land sometimes find very old Native American pictures painted on the rocks.

 

     DEATH VALLEY In Death Valley, California, the summer temperature rises to 130-165 degrees Fahrenheit. There is less than two inches of rain each year. Death Valley is the lowest place in the Americas -282 feet below the sea level. In the 1800s, many travelers died when they tried to cross this waterless valley in the terrible heat. Today it is a popular winter resort, with campgrounds, a luxury hotel, and a golf course. But hotels and campgrounds in Death Valley still have to close during the hot summer.
    Although the desert is dry and seems empty, there is a plenty of life if you look closely. Small insects, snakes, and rats have learned how to live in the desert heat. They live underground and come out at night, when it is cool. Plants such as cacti need very little water. When it rains in the desert (sometimes only once or twice a year), plants grow quickly, and flowers open in a single day. For a short time, the desert is covered with brilliant color.
    Modern visitors to America's deserts haven't the same problems as early travelers had. They have air conditioning and can carry plenty of water in their cars. They enjoy the change from the crowded city. And there is nothing more beautiful than the color of a desert sunset.

DEVIL'S TOWER

    For many people, Devil's Tower is the place where alien beings landed and made friendly contact with Earth in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. President Roosevelt proclaimed it as the first national monument in 1906.
    Scientists think that this monument thrusting 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River in northern Wyoming was formed 60 million years ago. A flow of magma pushed up into a layer of sedimentary rock, where it cooled and shrank, separating into columns. Over the years, the sedimentary rock eroded and formed the tower. The diameter of the base is 1,000 feet, and its tear-drop-shaped top is 1.5 acres.
    In 1815 Richard Dodge named the formation, slightly changing the Indian name which can be translated as Bad God‘s Tower. Some years later, two local men made the first climb to the summit on the Fourth of July, planting a flag atop the tower. They used a wooden ladder they had built, and their wives earned some money during the event by selling refreshments and pieces of the flag as souvenirs. A couple of years later, one of the wives used her husband’s ladder to become the first woman to reach the summit.
    Today, more than 5,000 climbers come here from all over the world every year to climb on the massive formation and there are more than 120 routes to the summit. The monument is worth visiting because of its unusual natural beauty and extremely rich and varied wildlife.
    According to an old Indian legend this is how the unusual rock formation originated. A boy and seven sisters once played at this place. Suddenly, the boy was mysteriously transformed into a bear, his fingers became claws, his body became covered with fur. The sisters ran in terror from the bear, who followed them to the stump of a big tree. The tree spoke to them, telling them to climb upon it. As they did, the stump began to rise into the air. The bear clawed at the bark but could not reach them. The sisters were carried into the heavens, where they can still be seen as seven bright stars in the Big Dipper. Meanwhile, the stump turned to stone, covered by the deep gouges of the bear’s claws.

THE EVERGLADES

    It is a huge wetland. Everglades National Park was established in 1947 to preserve the unique flora and fauna of the Everglades. It covers 10,000 square miles at the southern end of Florida. The water in the Everglades moves very little. It is a wetland area of many small rivers flowing south from Lake Okeechobee. A lot of rain falls here each year, and the weather is warm. Between the narrow waterways there are many low, grassy islands. The highest island is only seven feet above sea level. Wild animals and birds live on these islands. There are also poisonous snakes and alligators.
      Seeing the Everglades by boat is exciting, but visitors should always travel with a guide. One narrow waterway looks the same as another, and it is easy to become lost.
    The Everglades looks as if it is unchanging and unspoiled. But this national park is in danger of dying. Over the years, people have placed cities and farms very close to the Everglades. The direction of some rivers has been changed. Rivers that once carried water into the Everglades now carry water to millions of homes. Farmers also receive much of the river water for their sugarcane fields and vegetable farms.
    Interrupting the natural flow of water has damaged the Everglades. Thousands of acres have dried up and been replaced by cattle farms. Fertilizer and wastewater from the farms have seeped into the Everglades. Pollution had harmed plants and animals in the swamp.
    Now there are plans to save the Everglades. Workers plan to turn thousands of acres of sugarcane fields back into marshes. The marshes will filter out much of the chemicals and dangerous wastewater that harm the Everglades. Workers will also change the direction of some rivers back to the way they once were. The project to save the Everglades will cost about 700 million dollars. Environmentalists say that the cost is not too high to save one of the world's largest wetlands.

GRAND CANYON
 
    Probably you have seen photographs of the Grand Canyon, the great valley in the desert country of Arizona. But you must go there yourself to feel its true size and beauty. The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.
    The Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon over millions of years. Slowly, the river cut down through hard rock. At the same time, the Iand was rising. Today, the canyon is one mile deep and 277 miles Iong. The oldest rocks at the bottom of the canyon are more than a billion years old. The width varies from six hundred feet to eighteen miles across. The top of the canyon is about 7000 feet above the sea level on the South Rim, and 9000 feet on the other side, the North Rim. As a result, there are different kinds of plants and animals on opposite sides of the canyon. The South Rim is dry desert country. The North Rim has tall forests.
    The canyon looks different at different times of a day, and in different seasons and weather. At sunrise and sunset the red, gold, brown, and orange colors of the rocks are especially clear and bright. In winter, the canyon is partly covered with snow.
    The view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is the best. Most visitors come to the South Rim and stay in campgrounds or hotels. Every point along the canyon's edge offers a different view.
    The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is quieter. It takes all day to drive there from the South Rim because there is only one bridge across the Colorado River. On the way, you go through Navaho Indian lands, and a colorful pink desert called "The Painted Desert".
    You can walk down into the Grand Canyon, or you can go down on the back of a mule. Inside the canyon, it is very hot - much hotter than at the top. You must be careful to carry enough water and not to get too tired. You can also take a boat trip down the Colorado River, and camp on the beaches at night. But whether you see the Grand Canyon from the top or the bottom, it will be an experience that you will never forget.

THE GREAT LAKES
 
    The United States has all kinds of lakes, large and small. But most of the fresh water in America is in five large lakes in the northeast and central USA. These are the "Great Lakes": Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Ontario. There is enough water here to cover the USA ten feet deep.
    Travel in the Great Lakes area is easy because the lakes and many rivers are connected. Water transportation is quicker and cheaper than travel by land. For this reason, many industries such as steel and automobile factories were started around the Great Lakes about one hundred years ago. But because of the many factories, the lakes and rivers have become filled with dangerous chemicals and oil. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River was so oily and dirty that it caught fire and burned for many hours. Now people are trying to clean up the lakes and rivers. The water is becoming clearer and cleaner, and there are more fish. But there are still chemicals which are dangerous to human health.
    Isle Royale National Park, an island in Lake Superior, is still very wild. You must travel several hours by boat to get there. The waters of Lake Superior are cold and dangerous. Several ships have hit underwater rocks and have gone down. Now divers come to explore them. And people come to explore the island's forests. On a summer night, the green glow of the aurora borealis, or "northern lights," shines high in the sky.
    If you stay in one of the thirty-six campgrounds on Isle Royale, don't be surprised to be awakened at night by the call of a wolf. These wolves came across the ice-covered lake to the island in the late 1940s. The wolves hunt small animals. Sometimes they also kill moose. Isle Royale is a good place for scientists to study these animals.
    There are no cars on Isle Royale, and no people live there all year round. But every summer thousands of families visit Isle Royale to fish, hike, watch wildlife, and camp in the wilderness.

HAWAII, ISLAND PARADISE
 
    Hawaii was not always a green, sunny paradise. These islands were born in fire and smoke. A chain of volcanoes slowly grew up under the Pacific Ocean. After millions of years, the tops of the mountains rose above the sea to form the 132 islands.
    Five of these volcanoes can still be seen, and two of them are active. On Hawaii, the largest and youngest island, the Kilauea volcano often sends red ash into the sky. Lava rock covers a large part of Hawaii Island and in some places nothing grows. A third volcano, 13 796-foot Mauna Kea, is usually silent and snow-covered, but it is not dead. Maui Island is older and volcanic activity has stopped there. Tourists climb to the top of the quiet Haleakala volcano to see the sunrise.
    People from many nations came to live in Hawaii. The newcomers brought new plants and animals. Sugar cane, pineapples, coconuts, and orchids did not always grow on the Islands. Foreign plants and animals have pushed out many local ones, and have changed Hawaii little by little. There is now a danger that many of Hawaii's native plants may be lost forever. But you can still find rare plants and flowers on the Na Pali coast. The shore of this northwest side of Kauai Island is too steep and dangerous for boats to land. There are no roads. If you want to see Na Pali's green valleys and waterfalls, you must walk in.
    Many of Hawaii's smaller islands are too small for people. The Leeward Island is a carefully guarded home for millions of sea birds, seals, and turtles. Up until now, Hawaii's islands have kept their natural beauty. But travel to the smaller islands and wild areas is becoming more popular. How much longer will paradise last?

MAMMOTH SITE

    SD, ongoing excavations of prehistoric mammoths. 

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
 
    Many rivers cross the United States. But the greatest is the mighty Mississippi. Native Americans called it "the father of waters". The Mississippi runs through the heartland of the USA. It begins in the northern US and ends in the Gulf of Mexico, nearly four thousand miles away. On its journey to the sea, the Mississippi travels through several states, and becomes larger and more powerful. Sometimes there are terrible floods. For example, during a flood in 1973, the river rose 43 feet above its banks at St. Louis. But usually the river is helpful. It brings water to farmlands. And the Mississippi has been an important water highway since early times, when Native Americans traveled on the river in canoes.
    The Mississippi begins quietly in the northern lake country of Minnesota, among forests and grasslands. Water animals such as otter and beaver live along the river. There are also many kinds of fish and wild birds. At the southern end of the Mississippi is the delta country. There, the river moves slowly in wide curves between many small islands. Then it empties into the sea. Fish live in the warm waters near the sea, and many small animals live on delta islands.

MOUNT RUSHMORE

    In the Black Hills of South Dakota four famous faces stare out of the face of a granite cliff. The faces are those of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt. The average height of each face is 60 feet (4.57 m)! The faces of the four American presidents comprise the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. They are the largest sculptures in the world.
    The busts of the four presidents were blasted out of a granite cliff by Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln. Gutzon worked on the project for 14 years from 1927 to 1941 but did not finish the busts before his death. The son finished the monuments in the same year of his father's death. Nearly one million tons of granite were removed to create the sculptured faces.
    Also called the Shrine of Democracy, the Mount Rushmore sculptures can be seen from a distance of 60 miles (96 km). Nearly two million Americans visit the memorial each year.

NIAGARA FALLS

    Many people on holiday in North America want to visit Niagara Falls. In fact for hundreds of years visitors have been amazed by the beauty and power of the Falls. For thousands of years the only people to see the Falls were the native Indians. Traveling by canoe on the Great Lakes they had to carry their boats around the Falls. They could hear the roar of the water long before they could see them. It sounded like continual thunder so they named it "Onguiaahra" (later Niagara) which means "Great Thunderer of Waters".
    Historians report that the first European to see the Falls was Father Louis Hennepin, a French priest who accompanied the explorer LaSalle in 1678. However, the Falls he saw carried more than twice the volume of water we see today. Hydro-electric production takes nearly two-thirds of the Falls' flow. There are actually three waterfalls at Niagara, The Canadian Horseshoe Falls, 670 meters wide, the American Falls, 260 meters wide, and the Bridal Veil is 15 meters wide. Between the Canadian Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls is Goat Island, and between the Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls is Luna Island.
    The Niagara Falls, at 57 meters, are not the highest waterfalls in the world. There are more than fifty "taller" waterfalls. The Angel Falls in Venezuela at 979 meters are the highest.
The fresh water that plunges over Niagara comes from four great lakes - Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie. Once it flows over the Falls, it travels down the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean.
    Between October 24, 1901 and October 1, 1995, fifteen different people (2 people went over twice) have plunged over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls in some type of device. Five of these people lost their lives as a result. It is in fact against the law to go over Niagara Falls on purpose in a "barrel" without permission. No permission has ever been given and the maximum fine is 10,000,000 dollars.
Between 1859 and 1898, nine tightrope walkers crossed over the lower Niagara gorge The first to walk across was Francois Gravelet, known professionally as Blondin. Born on February 28, 1824 in St Omer, France, Blondin performed several times during the summer of 1859, carrying out a variety of stunts. His most dramatic acts included carrying his manager on his back as he crossed the gorge, and pushing a small cooking stove across the wire. On June 25, 1887, a local Niagara resident, Stephen Peer, died when he fell from his wire during a night walk. Seven year old Roger Woodward accidentally went over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls wearing only a lifejacket on July 9th, 1960. The accident happened when the small boat he was in capsized above the Falls. James Honeycutt, the operator of the boat lost his life, but Roger's sister Deanne, who was also in the boat, was miraculously rescued just above the Falls. Thrown clear of the rocks below the falls, Roger was pulled from the water by the tourist boat "Maid of the Mist" and was unharmed.

THE PLAINS AND PRAIRIES
  
"Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play…"
    Every American child knows this song. It describes a cowboy's love for the wide, flat prairie grasslands which cover the central area of North America.
    Today, the plains and prairies are mostly farming country. But only a little more than one hundred years ago, these wide open spaces were covered with tall grass and colorful wild flowers. Thousands of buffalo fed on the green grass. Small animals called prairie dogs lived under the ground. Great birds such as hawks and eagles flew in the skies above.
    This land was the home of several groups of Native Americans, including the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. They hunted the buffalo, deer, elk, rabbits, and many other animals which lived in the grasslands. They lived in buffalo-skin tents called teepees. They often moved their camps from one place to another.
    When European settlers moves west across America, they found that the prairies made excellent farmland. The prairies of the Midwest became the "breadbasket" of America and the world. Food crops that grow here are used to make bread in Russia, noodles in China, and tofu and cooking oil in Japan.
    After World War I, it did not rain much on the prairies for several years. The land became a "dustbowl." Clouds of earth blew across the dry land and the crops did not grow well. Many farmers had to leave their land and homes. But they also learned and important lesson. Now farmers try to protect the land. They plant trees to break the wind, and they plow in curves, not in straight lines.
    The drier grasslands of the western plains are cowboy country. From Montana and Wyoming in the north to Texas in the south, there are now beef cattle on the land where buffalo once lived. But at Wind Cave National Park and Badlands National Park in South Dakota you can see areas of the old grassland where buffalo still roam freely.

ANCIENT FORESTS: THE REDWOODS
 
    Redwood Creek is a small river in northern California. Along this river there are five famous trees called "the Tall Trees Grove." They are sequoia redwoods, and they are over 360 feet high. They are probably the tallest living things on earth. The forest floor below is cool and dark. Damp fog from the nearby ocean sometimes hangs in the air.
    Not far away, lumber companies are busy cutting down trees for wood. They cut down every tree in the forest at the same time. Even small bushes and plants are broken down by the trucks which move the huge trees. But the wood from one redwood can be sold for $15,000 or more, so cutting trees is big business. After a section of forest is cut in this way, new baby trees are planted. But the new forest will probably never be the same as the very old forests, because redwoods need hundreds of years to grow.
    Redwood trees are some of the oldest living things on this planet today. The oldest ones are from two thousand to four thousand years in age. The "General Sherman" tree in Sequoia National Park is probably 3,500 years old. It is 272 feet high and 37 feet across. Redwood trees once grew in many places. Just one hundred years ago, there were redwood forests for hundreds of miles along the Pacific Coast north of San Francisco. But 90 percent of the trees have been cut down in recent years. Now only a few redwood forests remain in California and Oregon, and even these are in danger.
    Over the last twenty years, the USA government has been buying forest land to add to Redwood National Park in northern California. And they want to stop the lumber companies cutting down nearby trees. But some local people are afraid that they will lose their jobs if all the forests become parkland. Some of the older redwood trees were young trees long ago, when the pyramids were built in Egypt. But every year the forest is cut down nearer and nearer to the Tall Trees Grove. Will these ancient forests still be here in the twenty-first century?

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
 
    Yellowstone is the United States' first, largest, oldest and most famous national park. This large wilderness area is very high in the Rocky Mountains of the north-western U.S. It includes large areas of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, and it is bigger than the smallest state of the U.S.A. Yellowstone became the world's first national park in 1872.
    Yellowstone has many different kinds of unusual scenery. Although millions of people visit the park, the land is still unchanged - still a wilderness. The valley of the Yellowstone River has beautifully colored rocks and three large waterfalls. In the early morning or evening, visitors sometimes see moose, large deer-like animals, or buffalo eating grass along the shores of Lake Yellowstone. The high mountains around Yellowstone are covered with evergreen forests. Great grizzly bears live there. The bears sometimes come down into the campgrounds to look for food. Then the park rangers must back them into the high mountains. Other wild animals move around freely in the park.
    Yellowstone Park has many areas with hot springs and geysers or hot water fountains - nearly 3,000. These are caused by heat from the center of the earth. Old Faithful geyser is the most famous. Every seventy minutes, Old Faithful sends hot water about 150 feet high into the air.
    When you visit Yellowstone, why not live like a cowboy? You can stay at a "dude ranch", an Old West country hotel. You will enjoy typical cowboy food at outdoor barbecues. You can ride a horse, or hike along one of the many paths or trails. There are over one thousand miles of trails around Yellowstone. If you like excitement, take a boat trip down the fast Snake River. Or spend a quiet summer day fishing by a river or a blue mountain lake.
    In winter, Yellowstone Park is covered with heavy snow, but visitors still come to ski and skate. With clouds of steam above them and snow all around, Yellowstone's hot springs look even more wonderful.

YOSEMITE
  
    One day in 1851, some soldiers were chasing some Native Americans in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Suddenly the soldiers came to the entrance to a wide, beautiful valley. They were probably the first European settlers to the Yosemite. The sides of the U-shaped valley are tall cliffs of grey rock. The biggest rocks, such as Cathedral Rock, El Capitan, Half Dome, and the Three Sisters, are named for their unusual shapes. They were made millions of years ago by a large ice sheet, or glacier. The powerful moving river of ice cut the wide valley out of the hard rock.
    Today, the peaceful Merced River runs through the valley, and tall redwood trees grow there. Deer, brown bears, and many other wild animals live there. Waterfalls drop down into the valley from the mountains above. Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America - 739 m. In the high country, there are grassy meadows and wild flowers in summer. It snows heavily in winter, and then the valley and mountains are white and silent.
    In 1868, a man from San Francisco visited Yosemite. His name was John Muir, and he fell in love with Yosemite's wild beauty. He returned again and again to study nature and to enjoy the clear mountain air. Soon scientists and artists visited there, too. They wrote about Yosemite and painted pictures. Travelers from the cities began to spend vacation there.
    John Muir wanted to save Yosemite for the future. He hoped that some day a million people would be able to see its natural wonders. He didn't want people to cut down the forests or build factories there. He was very happy when Yosemite became a national park in 1890.
    Now, above three million people come to Yosemite every year. John Muir's dream for Yosemite has come true, but it has come true in a way that he surely never expected. During the busiest season, Yosemite Valley is like a small outdoor city. The air gets smoky and people leave empty cans, bottles, and other garbage. Hikers hurt the plants and even rocks. "God himself seems to be doing his best here," wrote John Muir about his favorite place. People must try to do their best, too, to be sure that our grandchildren may also enjoy the natural wonders of Yosemite.

ZION

    "Nothing can exceed the wondrous beauty of Zion … in the nobility and beauty of the sculptures there is no comparison …"
    When geologist Clarence E. Dutton wrote that description in 1880, southern Utah was a wild country of little known canyons and plateaus. But in 1909 this area was added to the National Park System.
    The name Zion suggests a place of peace and refuge. This is true not only for visitors but for wildlife as well. The park is a sanctuary for golden eagles, mule deer and mountain lions, cactus and cottonwood (americký topol). Some of the best opportunities for admiring wildlife are along park trails. You may surprise lizards on a hike along a wooden wash on the desert's edge or hear echoes of the clear gushing song of the canyon wren (oříšek) in a forest of pinyon and juniper. Wildflowers are common throughout the park, particularly in spring and fall. Even where there is nothing more than a tiny pocket of soil in a rock crack, plants manage to survive.
    Springwater seeping through the porous rock walls nourishes these lush (bujné) hanging gardens. Along the bottom of the canyon flows the Virgin River. It is a river with the looks of a creek and the muscle of the Colorado. It carved the rock gorge (skalní rokle) of Zion Canyon more than 13 million years ago and continues its work today. Few people have ever lived in Zion Canyon year-round, only Mormon settlers once did. Today's visitors of Zion can drive, bicycle, or take a guided tour there, depending on their interests. They can be sure that whenever they return, and no matter how often, Zion Canyon will always repay them generously for the time they spend there.