Natural Wonders
| No
better place to vacation. Wyoming
is home to some of the most famous
and popular scenic attractions in the
world. The Parkway Plaza's unique location
in the midst of this wild, natural beauty
provides guests with a wide range of
possibilities for outdoor adventure.
The following locations are all within
an easy day's drive from Casper. |
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Yellowstone National Park
The nation's first national park was created by President
Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. While Old Faithful , the
most widely recognized geyser, serves as the park's
signature, there are more than 10,000 other geothermal
features in Yellowstone
National Park. Countless other stunning scenic
attractions are all over the park from the Yellowstone
River , which drops over 400 feet in two waterfalls
cutting a grand canyon deep into the golden-hued
rock that gives the park its name, to lofty snow-capped
peaks, to the deep blue waters of Yellowstone Lake
. Yellowstone is also famous for the abundance of
its wildlife, including bison, elk, wolves, bears,
coyotes, moose, bobcats, mountain lions and an array
of unique birds
Yellowstone National Park can be reached from the Parkway Plaza in as little
as six hours driving time through some of the Rocky Mountains' most scenic
panoramas. |
Grand Teton National Park
Grand
Teton National Park includes the Rockies
most picturesque mountain landscape, where
jagged peaks tower more than a mile above the
Jackson Hole valley. The park is located in
northwestern Wyoming just south of Yellowstone
National Park and just north of the town of Jackson
. Grand Teton National Park offers hiking, camping,
climbing, boating, kayaking and numerous photography
opportunities. A road winds through the park, but
the best way to experience the park is to take one
of its shorter trails. The Park Service web site
lists information about activities, camping and
history of the park.
Grand Teton National Park is an easy 260 mile drive
from the Parkway Plaza via US Hwy 20/26 through Dubois. | 
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Devils
Tower National Monument
The nearly vertical monolith
known as Devils
Tower rises 1,267 feet above the meandering
Belle Fourche River . Once hidden below the
earth's surface, erosion has stripped away
the softer rock layers revealing Devils Tower
. Known by several northern plains tribes as
Bear's Lodge, it is a sacred site of worship
for many American Indians. President Theodore
Roosevelt proclaimed it the nation's first
national monument on September 24, 1906 .
Devil's Tower is 245 miles from
the Parkway Plaza via Interstate highways 25
and 90. |
Mt.
Rushmore
Another 30 miles onward from Devil's Tower is
South Dakota 's Mt. Rushmore.
This epic sculpture features the faces of four exalted American presidents: George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. South
Dakota 's Black Hills provide the backdrop for Mount Rushmore, the world's greatest
mountain carving. These 60-foot high faces, 500 feet up, look out over a setting
of pine, spruce, birch, and aspen in the clear western air.
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Hell's Half Acre
Closer
to Casper is the geologic oddity Hell's Half Acre, a craggy horseshoe-shaped gorge that drops away from an otherwise flat plain where Highway 20 runs east. The 150+ ft. deep gorge, actually 320-acres total as it spreads south, is filled in one section with jagged rock spires, naturally sculpted into nightmarish chaos by an ancient offshoot of the Powder River.
Alien bug
planet scenes for the movie Starship
Troopers (1997) were filmed here.
The crew spent weeks in the summer
hauling props down into the hole
and shooting among the gnarled rock
protrusions.
Hell's Half Acre lies 40 miles Northwest of Casper along US Hwy 20. |
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