Robert Cross

GETTING THERE From the Seattle-Tacoma airport, the quickest way (barring traffic tie-ups) is to take the Seattle State car ferry ($7.10 each way per vehicle) to the terminal on Bainbridge...

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK,Wash.--I have seen many a national park in my day, but never before one that spreads across so many different kinds of environments as Olympic. Olympic National Park...

Established as a national park: March 1, 1872 (world's first national park). Area: 2,221,766 acres (3,472 square miles--larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined). Visitors: 3,012,171 recreational visits in 1996....

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo.--One small body of water here goes by the name of Grand Prismatic Spring, and, in some ways, Grand Prismatic might serve to describe this park in...

1. Grand Teton. The star of the Grand Teton range is this 13,770-foot peak, sharp and tilted like the Matterhorn but in more colorful company. 2. Jackson Lake. Blue waters...

1. Old Faithful. Would you visit the Louvre and avert your eyes from the Mona Lisa? This is more an event than a sight. Benches surround the geyser hole and...

Established as a national park: Feb. 26, 1929. Area: 310,516 acres (485 square miles). Visitors: 4,049,451 total visits in 1996. Location: Northwestern Wyoming, immediately south of Yellowstone National Park. Flora...

Grand Teton National Park stands in the shadow of mighty and famous Yellowstone. It serves as a backdrop for a celebrated skiing and resort complex and a national elk refuge....

GETTING THERE Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks take up a great deal of northwestern Wyoming (and, for Yellowstone, a small part of Idaho and Montana). But the towns that...