National Park - Namibia

Spectacular Granite Spires at Torres del Paine National Park

Torres del Paine or Towers of Paine are three massive granite pillars jutting out some 2,800 meters above the Patagonian steppe at South America's finest national park, 1,960 km south of the Chilean capital Santiago. These breathtaking spires are flanked by the summit of Paine Grande (3,050 m) and the sharp tusks of black sedimentary peaks known as Los Cuernos (The Horns). Aside from these spectacular granite spires and mountains of the massif that dominate the landscape, the national park also encompasses ridges, crags, glaciers, waterfalls, rivers, lakes and lagoons.

The centerpiece of the park is, of course, the three gigantic Towers of Paine. One of the earliest description of the area can be found in a book by Lady Florence Dixie published in 1880, where the British writer refered to the three towers as Cleopatra's Needles. She and her party were the first tourists to visit what is now called Torres del Paine National Park.

The Paine massif is actually a part of the eastern spur of the Andes located on the east side of the Grey Glacier, rising dramatically above the Patagonian steppe. The highest summit of the range is Cerro Paine Grande at an elevation of 2,884 m. The South Tower of Paine is about 2,500 m, while the Central Tower of Paine is about 2,460. There are other smaller summits including the Cuerno Principal, about 2,100 m, and Cerro Paine Chico at about 2,650 m.

10 Most Beautiful National Parks Of The World

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, an international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and its World Commission on Protected Areas, has defined National Parks as its category II type of protected areas. While ideas for this type of national park had been suggested previously, the United States established the first such one,Yellowstone National Park, in 1872. According to the IUCN, there were 6,555 national parks worldwide.

Yosemite National Park, United States

Arches National Park

Arches National Park is a U.S. National Park in eastern Utah. It is known for preserving over 2000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations.

The park is located just outside of Moab, Utah, and is 76,679 acres (31,031 ha) in area. Its highest elevation is 5,653 feet (1,723 m) at Elephant Butte, and its lowest elevation is 4,085 feet (1,245 m) at the visitor center. Forty-three arches have collapsed due to erosion since 1970. The park receives 10 inches (250 mm) of rain a year on average.

Administered by the National Park Service, the area was originally created as a National Monument on April 12, 1929. It was redesignated as a National Park on November 12, 1971.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a United States National Park in the Guadalupe Mountains in southeastern New Mexico. The town's main attraction is the nearby national park, which is home to a massive underground limestone cave, claimed to be the most beautiful in the world. 

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwestern Utah in the United States. Bryce Canyon which, despite its name, is not a canyon but a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by wind, water, and ice erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. Some of these hoodoos are up to 200 feet high. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors.

For millions of years water has carved Bryce's rugged landscape. Water drips into the cracks in the rocks, freezes and expands thereby splitting the rocks - a cyclic process that occurs some 200 times a year. In summer, rainwater etches into the softer limestones and sluices through the deep runnels. In about 50 years the present rim will be cut back another foot.

Bryce lies at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, varying from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,440 to 2,740 m), whereas the south rim of the Grand Canyon sits at 7,000 feet (2130 m) above Sea Level. Bryce Canyon National Park therefore has a substantially different ecology and climate, offering a contrast for visitors to the south west.

The Bryce area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874. The area around Bryce Canyon became a U.S. National Monument in 1923 and was designated as a national park in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres and receives relatively few visitors compared to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, largely due to its remote location.

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