Death Valley is a desert located in the southwestern United States of America. It is one of the driest, hottest places on earth. The second-highest recorded temperature was 134 F (57C), in July, 1913. Highest average rain fall was recorded in 1913 at 4.5 inches. It has the lowest elevation on the continent — 282 feet below sea level. Nearly 550 square miles of its area lie below sea level. The valley itself is 130 miles (210 km) long, between six and 13 miles (10-21 km) wide and is surrounded by steep mountain ranges: the Panamint mountains to the west, and the Black, Funeral, and Grapevine mountains to the east. Even with its extremes, the park still receives nearly a million visitors each year.

Rates & Fees:
Vehicle Entrance Fee: $20.00 for 7 Days
Individual Entrance Fee: $10.00 for 7 Days

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Kakadu National Park is Australia’s biggest national park that features rugged escarpments, lush rainforest and rock art galleries up to 50,000 years old. Park is situated in Northern Territory of Australia near Darwin. There are several settlements in the park, and much of Kakadu is Aboriginal land, leased to the government for its current use. About one-third of the park rangers are Aboriginal people. Some places enclosed by the park, but not part of it are designated for other purposes like uranium mining.

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Cemetery is located in Arlington, Virginia. It honors those men and women who served in the Armed Forces. There are over 260,000 people buried in there and approximately 5,400 burials are conducted each year. Today, the National Cemetery is involved with the burial of military casualties from the Iraqi and Afghanistan war fronts. More than four million people visit Arlington each year. Open daily including December 25. April through September hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. October through March hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Most beautiful nature reserves of China, Zhangjiajie has wonderful hiking trails in a serene environment of staggering natural beauty. In 1982 it was recognized as China’s first national forest park. It has an area of 72,000 acres. 97% of the park is covered with plants which have 98 families, 517 species, over twice the total in Europe. The Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in the Chinese province of Hunan features gigantic rocky pillar as the result of many years of erosion.

Park Facts:
Location: in Wulingyuan District, Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province
Highest peak: Doupeng Mountain (1890 meters)
Ticket: CNY248 ( A ticket is valid for two days )
Opening time: 07:30-18:00

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Yellowstone National Park covers more than 2.2 million acres at 63 miles from North to South and 54 miles East to West. It is the home of the Old Faithful Geyser and others. Each year millions of US citizens and foreign travelers enjoy the views and unique hydrothermal features of this park. The Yellowstone region is primarily made up of boreal forests. Visitors are likely to see a number of wild animals in the park, including grizzliy and black bears, gray wolves, bison, elk, moose bighorn sheep. Entrance fees to National park are $25 per private vehicle for seven days, or $50 for one year.

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The Carlsbad Caverns National Park contains 113 of more than 300 known caves beneath the surface of the Chihuahuan Desert and Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. All caves was formed as sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone. The most famous part of this National Park is the show cave, which is open to the public and tourists can hike by themselves via the natural entrance. National Park was first designated a National Monument on 25 Oct 1923. Carlsbad Caverns was also designated a World Heritage Site on 06 Dec 1995.

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Located at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert of Southern New Mexico, lies the amazing national treasure known as the White Sands National Monument. The closest major airport is in El Paso, Texas, a two hour drive away. The White Sands covers 275 square miles. About half of those 275 square miles are within the White Sands National Monument. It is also called White Sands Desert but this is not a desert of sand but a desert of gypsum. You will find there the largest concentration of white pristine gypsum sand in the world. The best way to explore the park and taking sunrise and sunset pictures is to camp there.

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Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Doane Robinsons idea was to create an attraction that would draw people from all over the country to this state. He is known as the Father of Mount Rushmore. The Mt Rushmore memorial was created by master sculpture Gutzon Borlgum with the assistance of over 400 blasters, carvers and workers. Construction of the granite rock faced mountain began in 1927 when Borglum was 60 and the sculptures of the Mount Rushmore presidents were not completed until Borlgum’s death in 1941. Creation of the Shrine of Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million. Each head on Mt. Rushmore is as tall as a six-story building. The presidents noses are 20 feet long, each mouth 18 feet wide and the eyes are 11 feet across. The four presidents carved in the mountain are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. At first, there was a suggestion to carve famous western figures, people like Buffalo Bill, Lewis & Clark, and Sacagawea. But a special group, a commission, instead chose these presidents because they best represented the foundation, expansion and preservation of the United States.

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The Very Large Array also called VLA consists of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico. The radio antennas are massive (230-ton) and each 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. The scientific beauty of the array is that the antennas act as one. The VLA can cover frequencies between 0.073 and 50 GHz, and wavelengths between 400 and 0.7 centimeters. The VLA stands at an elevation of 6970 ft (2124 m) above sea level. It is a component of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The total cost of the VLA was $78,578,000 dollars in 1972.

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Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. A National Monument is a protected area that is quickly declared by the President of the United States without the approval of Congress. Devils Tower sits across the state line in northeast Wyoming. It is 867 feet from its base to the summit. It stands 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River and is 5,112 feet above sea level. It was formed by the intrusion of igneous material. Devils Tower National Monument is open year-round 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. Admission is $10 per vehicle and $5 for bicycles and pedestrians for a seven day pass.

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Grand Teton National Park is located in northwestern Wyoming just south of Yellowstone National Park and just north of the town of Jackson. It is very popular for climbers, hikers and photographers. The area is spectacular. The words cannot describe its beauty. The people are very friendly and helpfull at any visitor center. The peaks of the Teton Range stand nearly 7,000 feet (2,135 meters) above the valley floor. The park also contains a number of beautiful lakes which lie at the foot of the mountains, such as Leigh Lake. The park includes 485 square miles (1,256 square kilometers) of both the Teton Range and Jackson Hole.

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