Great Parks of the West and Trains too - Travel Video.

DVD. Client Denn Digital Camera. 75 Minutes. Perhaps the greatest array of natural wonders in the world is found in the western United States. Great Parks preserve them and open them to visitors. The world's single largest expanse of exposed granite comprises the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Five Great Parks are carved from its valleys and peaks. They include glaciers, great rivers, five of the world's 20 highest waterfalls, deep canyons, lakes, bold monoliths and the world's largest trees. Just west, on the coast, is the world's tallest tree in the "Avenue of the Giants" grove. Yellowstone's great variety of trees, rivers, canyons and meadows are picturesque settings for buffalo, bear, wolf and elk. Volcanic chambers below produce belching fumaroles, boiling mud pots, hot clear pools and numerous vents and geysers. In the southwest are Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Saguaro, and the Petrified Forest Parks. Ancient Native Americans flourished at Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelly. Echoes of their past are present there in today's rich Indian culture. A bold land, in colorful motif and design, shows startling contrasts in Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park, Natural Bridges and the awe inspiring Grand Canyon. To the north are the remarkable vistas of Glacier Park and the rare temperate rain forest of Olympic Park. Mount St.Helens shows the volcanic past and present of the Pacific's Rim of Fire and reminds us that capricious nature can still awe and humble us. Much of this "Great West" was opened to settlers and industry by the railroads and a few of these trains still operate today. "The Durango-Silverton" in the Rocky Mountains, "The Skunk" crossing the Coastal Range and the "Grand Canyon Railway" are exciting examples.