--by Claire Basney
For all those interested in going away for Spring Break, yet, avoiding possible suffocation in the crowds at Gulf Shores or Daytona Beach, relax! The way to a stress-free Spring Break is to go to National Parks and Monuments far away from the tourist traps. If you are tired of the snow try heading south, past Kentucky’s Horse Park, past the Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee, to hike in Big Bend National Park on the Rio Grande River in Texas. This park includes in its lists of sights the Chisos mountain range and 3 river canyons.
Big Bend gets its name from--that’s right--the big bend in the Rio Grande that borders at least some of the park’s 801,163 acres. In Santa Elena’s Canyon, the bones of a pterosaur were discovered in 1971. March might be the perfect time to go--the desert flowers will be in full bloom.
Interested in staying a little closer to home? The North Central USA is much nearer and sprouts national parks like weeds: South Dakota alone boasts as well as two national parks, two national forests, Jewel Cave National Monument and the famous Mt. Rushmore National Memorial.
Like Big Bend, Badlands National Park sports rock formations, and Wind Cave National Park has another rock formation. Open all year and carved out of the Black Hills, Wind Cave gets its name from the winds which blow in or out of the cave, depending on the atmospheric pressure. Tours through the cave last from 45 minutes (for non-hikers) to 1 1/4 hours, with a four-hour spelunking trip for the truly hardy. If rocks grow boring, bison, antelope, and a prairie dog town can be seen from the along the road.
Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North Dakota are also full of interesting parks, Minnesota’s Pipestone National Monument offers more than animals and rocks. In the summer, Native American artists work with the red stone for which the monument is named. According to legend, neighboring tribes quarried the stone to make ceremonial pipes. Other attractions include Winnewissa Falls, Lake Hiawatha, and Leaping Rock.
For those who believe that the USA East Coast is God’s chosen country, Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina may hit the spot. With a range of elevations from 840 feet by Abrams Creek to 6643 feet at Clingman’s Dome, the Great Smoky Mountains boast the highest peaks in eastern North America, excepting Mount Mitchell and Mount Craig. Like its predecessors, the Smokies get their name from the physical characteristics of the neighborhood--it is a rare day when one can see the tops of the mountains through the blue haze. Not only rocky, the Smokies would be another ideal Spring Break vacation spot--the dogwoods and wildflowers bloom from mid-March till May, while the old-growth red spruce flourish year round.
If time or money prevents you from exploring beyond Michigan’s borders, but you still have that hankering for wildlife bigger than the Nature Preserve squirrels, try visiting the beavers, loons, moose, and red foxes that live on the largest island in Lake Superior; Isle Royale. 99% which is wilderness, the island is an International Biosphere Reserve. Isle Royale does not open until mid-April, and even then the hiking trails are slippery, but summer heat should easily be warded off by the temperature of the surrounding lake: 35-60 F. Leave a whole day for this excursion--it takes four or five hours just to reach the park aboard the Isle Royale Queen III. Once you are on the island multiple sights await: Greenstone Trail, Mount Franklin, Mount Ojibway, and, with a bit longer boat trip, the Rock Harbor Lighthouse.