One of the most beautiful places to visit in the U.S.A. is Yellowstone National Park. Located mainly in Wyoming, it was the first national park in the world. The park extends¹ over into Montana and Idaho too. The wildlife there is famous, along with Old Faithful, a geyser².
Native Americans had been living in the area for at least 11,000 years, but people didn’t really start exploring this region until the end of the 1860’s. The park was created in 1917, when the National Park Service started to take care of it.
In Yellowstone there are many lakes, rivers, canyons, and mountain ranges³. There is also the Yellowstone Caldera, which is the largest super volcano on the continent. Yellowstone has half of the Earth’s geothermal features⁴. The park also has the largest, nearly untouched⁵ ecosystem in this area of the world.
One of the most famous features in the park is Old Faithful, a geyser. About every 91 minutes, boiling water shoots out of the ground. It is known as the most predictable⁶ geographical feature on Earth. From 14,000 to 32,000 liters of water spurt out, up to 32 to 56 meters high. The highest eruption ever recorded was 56 meters.
The large forests and grasslands also have what’s called mega fauna. Mega fauna means “giant animals.” Examples of these are elephants, whales, and the extinct⁷ mammoth. In Yellowstone you can find large grizzly bears, wolves, elk and bison. The Yellowstone Park bison herd ist he oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Some of the species of mammals, fish, birds and reptiles are endangered. There are also plants that can only be found in this park.
Some activities you can do in Yellowstone include hiking, fishing, boating, camping and sightseeing. At least two million people visit the park every year. July is the busiest month at Yellowstone, during which they need almost 4,000 employees. In July 2010, almost million people visited the park during the month.
Yellowstone National Park is a place where you can visit to see some of the most beautiful and magical nature in the world. It’s a place that is free from the dangers of “progress⁸” and “civilization.”

Is it true or false?
1. Yellowstone National Park is located in Nebraska.
2. Parts of the park also extend into Montana and Idaho.
3. Old Faithful erupts about every 61 minutes.
4. The highest recorded eruption was 56 meters.
5. In Yellowstone it’s possible to find elk and bison.

Francisco Mejia

Vocabulary: 1[ik‘stends] – zasahuje; 2[əuld feiθful gi:zə] – gejzír Starý verný/ věrný; 3[mauntin reindžis] – pohoria/ horské hřebeny; 4[dži:∂uθə:ml fi:čəs] – geotermálne/ geotermální úkazy; 5[antačt] – nedotknutý/ nedotčený; 6[məust pridiktəbl] – najviac predpovedateľný/ nejvíc předvidatelný; 7[ikstiŋkt] – vyhynutý/ vyhynulý; 8[prəugres] – pokrok