Evening star., 1925-06-07

being received by the touring bureaus
of motor clubs throughout the coun-
try.
The popularity of these parks as
destinations of motor tours is increas-
ing year by year, in the opinion of
Stephen T. Mather, director of the
National Park Service. Rocky Noun
tain National Park in Colorado holds
the reCord-224 ,211-for the number
of visitors during one season.
Opening and Closing Dates.
While most of the parks will open
formally in June and July, a few of
them already have begun to receive
their annual quota of tourists. among
these being Yosemite, Sequoia, Gen
eral Grant Zion and Mesa Verde. The
opening and closing dates of the more
important parks are:
Yellowstone, June Is to Septem-
Der 20.
Glacier, June Is to September Is.
Rainier. June IS to September Is.
Crater Lake. July to September 80.
Lassen Volcanic, June l to Septem-
Der Is.
Yosemite, open all the year.
Sequoia, May "a TO October 10.
General Grant, May "a to October 10.
Zion. May 10 TO October Is.
Mesa Verde, May Is to November I.
Rocky Mountain. June Is TO Oc-
tober /.
Yosemite and Grand Canyon are
open throughout the year and the
Sequoia and Rocky Mountain Parks
are accessible at all times of the year
One of the biggest improvements to-
ward making the Far Western ma
tional parks readily accessible to
motor tourists was the linking up
several years ago of a dozen or more
great parks by the National Park to
Park Highways, a thoroughfare ex-
ceeding $500 miles, extending from
Colorado westward into California
north to Seattle and the Glacier Ma
tional Park close to the Canadian line
and south into New Mexico and
Arizona.
This magnificent highway. says
Ralph Pierson, who has made an ex-
tensive study of the national park
system and its roads. may be picked
up at any of the parks and from that
particular preserve taken to the next
park on the trip. For instance, the
tourist coming from the east on the
Yellowstone trail may reach Yellow
stone Park in Wyoming. BY this way
the Yellowstone is reached from the
northern or Gardiner entrance by the
Yellowstone trail. A fee of $3.50 is
paid on entering, and this permits
him to go out and re-enter the park
as many times as he may desire dur
ing the season. In the park are 300
miles of well kept roads.
One Point of Interest.
The first point of interest is the
Mammoth Hot Springs. Twice daily
the National Park Service maintains
ranger guide service free for visitors,
so they may obtain the best knoWl-
edge on the various points of interest
on the hot spring formations.
West Thumb Is the western arm of
Yellowstone Lake and affords mar
Velous fishing either from the shore
or from boats. Here is the famous
fishing cone, where fish are caught in
the cool waters Of the lakes and
cooked in the cone, all in one opera
ton. A few miles north is Lake
Junction, where the road branches
off into the Cody Canyon.
At Canyon junction the Grand Can
yon of the Yellowstone holds sway.
The canyon is 1,400 feet deep and
II miles long. On the road to Tower
Falls the tourist may ride over Mount
Washburn, the highest point in the
park, 10000 feet, and from the sum-
nit the whole vista of the Yellowstone
may be seen. The tourist NAV con-
tinue to Mammoth and make the cir
cult to Norris and then take the cut
off to Canyon junction and thence to
Lake Junction, where the Cody run
begins. The trip through the Cody
Canyon is one of the scenic delights
of America and the Forest Service
has provided numerous camp grounds
with shower baths and cooking
facilities.
At Cody, still a frontier wyo-
ming town, the motorist follows
the National Park Highway south
erly to the Rocky Mountain Ma
tional Park, in Colorado. The road
leads through Casper Wheatland
and Cheyenne. In July the From
tier day ceremonies at Cheyenne at
tract many visitors. The Lincoln
Highway passes through Cheyenne
from East to West.
Rocky Mountain Lure.
Rocky MountainsPark is not as
large as Yellowstone, but it has its
unique features. Estes Park is the
entrance village and from there
many motor trips may be made
through the park. From the town
a road runs south, passing through
the park and ending at Denver
There is also a new road that fol-
lows Fall River up into the noun
tains, crossing the divide and
joining the west side road to
Grand Lake and thence to Denver
On leaving the park the motor
trip is resumed by the National
Park Highway, leading through
Colorado Springs and then to Pueblo.
From the town the Old Trails High
way may be reached by striking east
10 La Junta and the Southwest visited
that is, the New Mexico country.
The next important town after Pueblo
is Monte Vista, and an interesting
side trip may be taken to the Wheeler
National Monument. Mesa Verde
National Park is the next stopping
place of interest, containing the ruins
of the famous cliff dwellers OF
America.
The most striking are Spruce Tree
House, watch towers built on solid
rock; Point Lookout, the northern
most projection of the Mesa Verde:
Balcony House and Sunset House.
The motor road winds up toward
Point Lookout and finally turns south
ward to Spruce Tree Camp, near the
southern end of the park. where most
of the ruins are located. The new
motor road may be taken to the
summit of the mesa, and from there
one may stand in one State, Colorado,
and gaze into three others-Arizona,
Utah and New Mexico. This is the
only spot in the country where four