Cedar Breaks Park Evaluation - Term Paper Example

? Number] Report about Cedar Breaks Park Introduction-Step into the mesmerizing world! The moment I stepped into the Cedar Breaks Park, it felt as if I am in Paradise. Cedar Breaks Park located in Cedar City near the south side of Lake Georgetown is a place which soothed my nerves and demonstrated the beauty of nature. This report will take you into the beautiful world of this lush green park which will compel you to visit this place as soon as possible. From its amazing history to its jaw-dropping descriptions, from its interesting geology to the services it provides to the enthusiasts, everything will be reported here. It feels as which you are touching the sky as this park is 10,000 feet above a cliff edge with a spectacular view of forests, meadows, deserts and rocky spires. This breath-taking scenery was completely a treat for me as I had never seen such an amazing, well-kept park which was an amazing source of recreation for all of us. Cedar Breaks Park got the name ‘Cedar’ because of abundance of cedar in the forests surrounding this mesmerizing piece of land. This park is open all year and we visited during the same peak timings in between 6am-10pm. basically, this park is operated by the very efficient US Army Corps and they are remarkably performing their duties and maintaining the park well. History: This heaven on earth-Cedar Breaks Park could not have been constructed if this beautiful place could have been declared as National Monument by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 12th, 1992. People have been actually visiting this place 9000 years before and these were called as the first visitors of Cedar Break who came to this place for many things and activities (Laine and Laine 521). After the creation of Cedar Break Lodges, Cedar Break Park Company lodges were also constructed. Park tour buses used to stop for dinners at these lodges seating around 120 people at one time. In this way, people started to visit this place and got to know about this amazing place. As now, Cedar Break was in sight of many people, many groups of people started to utilizing this beautiful scenic beauty into some useful project. After Franklin’s Deceleration, this place was now ready to be considered as national monument. Once this was done, the idea of constructing Cedar Break Park clouded in the minds of many people and with time, these thoughts became reality which now we can clearly see in front of us. Cedar Break’s Climate, animals and plants-making it an unforgettable place! Cedar Break Park is one of those places which do not offer a great time to relax in the lush green meadows, recreation due to numerous fun activities but also the animal and bird lovers can have a great time as this park can also be seen as a mini zoo. When I visited this place, i was so amazed to see the wide range of animals and birds being exhibited in this well-maintained park. Animals including different birds, insects, spiders, millipedes, mammals etc. are found in this park. Various varieties of birds like grouse, juncos, kinglets, finches, thrushes, warblers and many others were caged, providing a great source to amuse children and many adults who adore birds. The rhythmic chirping of the birds produced a beautiful background music which relaxed every bone of my body. I was not able to stop looking at these beautiful, small, colorful birds who sat behind the wires of the cages. When it comes to talking about insects and creepy crawlies found in the park, one will always encounter spruce bark beetle in this park. This is a beetle which lay its eggs in Spruce trees which acts like a renewal in the old forests. As I walked along the park, I saw great numbers of dead spruce trees. After enquiring from one of the staff members of the park, I got to know that the same beetle is actually responsible for the death of these trees as it cuts off the flow of water and nutrients to the tops of the trees. Moreover, our recreation continued when we visited the cages of the extensive varieties of mammals being available in cages to the park visitors. Some of these were rabbits, bats, even-toed ungulates, rodents, shrews, numerable carnivores etc. An animal lover can never miss this place because apart from the wide range of animals in the park, the way they are kept and maintained, this makes this place even more worth-visiting. Lush green grounds surrounded by numerous types of trees and plants add up to its scenic beauty which draw me like a magnet. This park is special in many ways. Here the oldest Bristlecone Pine trees can be seen in sufficient numbers which are over 1600 years old. This adds up to the ancient history of this place and makes it even more special. Apart from bristlecone pine, there are Douglas-Fir, Subalpine Fir, Engelmann Spruce, Limber Pine and many more. Wildflowers like heartleaf arnica, little sunflower, Colorado columbine, blue fax, marsh marigold and dozens more are sighted making this park even more mesmerizing. When it comes to talking about the climate of this park, well it remains rainy during the summer season. Great number of rainfalls is reported in the hot season and usually visitors visit this place near this rainy season as it becomes pretty pleasant. (Courtesy of the National Park Service of the U.S department of the Interior) Geology: The geology of Cedar Breaks began some 60 million years ago and the multiple land formations were created with the help of erosion, uplifting and deposition. Cedar Breaks’ location is near the Hurricane fault and this is the reason of the uplifting of this area as now it has become active around 10million years ago. Though one cannot actually notice the change in the level as it is happening at a slow rate, but this cannot be said to be completely unnoticeable. And due to this uplifting of this area, erosion of wind, water and chemical took place (Kiver and Harris 522). I noticed many shallow caves, fissures and cracks in the park and got to a conclusion that these have been formatted mainly due to the chemical erosion as we have studied in our geology class how the acid rain erodes the rock and cause erosion when it reacts to limestone. After examining the geology of this park, I realized that the rock formations indirectly tell us about the history of the geology of this place. There have been two types of water erosion such as frost-edging erosion and running water erosion. And as this park also gives us a chance to take a look at the big sandy dunes of the deserts present there, this tells how there has been immense wind erosion in the past, in this specific area. Part of Cedar Breaks Park is situated on a plateau which has now become a little higher than before, when it was created, due to deposition during many past years. All these natural weather actions lead to the creation of many land features during these years, from the beginning i.e. rock spires, sand dunes, hills, valleys, rugged shallow cracks etc. (National Park Service) A beautiful sight of cliffs and pinnacles, I gazed the beautiful desert at one corner of the Cedar Breaks from this spell-bounding park. As summers were around the corner, there was a great probability of heavy showers as this usually happen during these months. With hardwood bottomlands and prairie grasslands, this Cedar Breaks Park gave me a chance to see multiple forms of landscape, from rugged terrain of the mountains to sandy dry deserts, from translucent sky-blue water river trails to dense forests; it gave a complete perfect picture of nature (Kiver and Harris 522). When it comes to talking about the scenic beauty of this place along with its geology, one cannot miss the sight of beautiful countless trees and hills along with lush green grounds over a rugged uneven land surface. These geologic forces have created some beautiful land reforms that one can never forget once encountered. All visitors meander along the easy trim trails during hiking activity in the park. Flanigan Arch is seen along the Ashdown Gorge route which is taken during the ride to the Cedar Break Park. This arch is about 100 feet high. With beautiful and breath-taking landscape of this park, there lies a masterpiece of nature. One of the most highest and beautiful monoliths are found due to sky-touching vertical topography. From small cliffs, numbers of small waterfalls plunges and rivers tumbles over the boulders. The diversity in the vegetation found in this park, from lush green grounds to cactus strewn land, makes it even more interesting and special to visit as this makes it extra ordinary. Twisted rock sculptures of sandstone hoodoos, stone pillars, crevices, buttes and many other rock formations were seen during the round we took to see this park. We truly had a lifetime experience, scrutinizing the mouth dropping natural beauties found in one corner of the world-Cedar Breaks Park (Laine and Laine 521). Visitor’s services-Its Recreation time! Uncountable recreation facilities are being provided by this unforgettable place such as boating, hiking, picnic shelters, fishing and hunting. With a proper facility of providing all the required equipment to undertake these amazing activities, I had the time of my life. They provided us a boat ramp to boat safely in the Georgetown Lake. This was one of the best places to fish and get plenty of fish of various kinds such as White Bass, White Crappie, catfish etc. Along with many other students, we were directed towards the hunting area which was one of the best parts of this memorable visit to the part. Small games of hunting like waterfowl, dove, water and squirrel and white tail deer was offered. With all safety precautions and best equipment, this visitor’s service is available to give the visitor a great time at the park. Beautifully designed grounds were the perfect pick for picnic shelters. Visitor services like many children activities, nearby lodging and restaurants, off-road vehicles facility, scenic drives, picnicking and cycling were offered to us. Mountain and road biking seem to be dangerous to us at first sight but when we tried, its impression was completely the opposite of what we really experienced. As it situated on the southern Georgetown lake, the park has provided us with some amazing water sports like kayaking, canoeing, rafting with a scenic beauty of beaches. In the winter season, they offer snowboarding, snowmobiling, winter camping, downhill skiing, ice skating and sliding. This is why, people visit this park all around the year in all seasons as different park activities have been designed and offered in different seasons accordingly. As a geology student, I was really interested to visit places in the park which are somehow connected to the history of this place. For all the history lovers like me, there were some park activities which were guided by a person who took us to all historical sites with nature trails and nature viewing. This really gave us a chance to sneak peek into the ancient world and its sites situated in this amazing park. (Courtesy of recreationparks.net) As we move along, we get to know more about the services being provided to the visitors like two group picnic shelters giving them a chance of big family parties, trips and cookouts, electric hookups, 59 campsites. Not only there is a great range of park activities, but these nearby attractions like grocery stores, restaurants and gas pumps makes it more convenient to visit for all the park lovers. Cedar Break Park management also holds many events like concerts which attract more visitors during the year. Accessibility of clean flush toilets, showers, dump stations and drinking water makes this place the perfect to visit for ample amount of time. Conclusion: A Worth Visiting Site to visit! For the first time, I saw heaven on earth and this was in the form of Cedar Break Park near Georgetown Lake in Texas, far away from all the worries and pollution of the world. Cedar Break Park was one of those places which have made a permanent place in my mind. I can never forget the fun I had in this place filled with scenic beauty, interesting history and culture, great range of visitor’s services and activities which gave us a chance to encounter the world’s most spectacular activities and sports, beautiful and spell bounding plantation, mini-zoo having all varieties of animals and birds and many other things which not only gave us an opportunity to have the time of our life but also gave us an insight about various land reforms and formations that took place in this specific area. This will surely help me in the coming future as a geology student. Different forms of nature were in stored in one place and the way these were maintained were remarkable. A proper staff is managing this entire place and keeping it safe from exploiting its natural beauty which is the main attraction for all the visitors. This site is no doubt worth-visiting because it has all the elements to make a trip memorable and informative at the same time. This happens very few times when a person cannot think of even one negative during their trip to a specific place and this what happened with me when I stepped into Cedar Break Park situated in one of the most mesmerizing places in the whole wide world. Work Cited Don Laine, Barbara Laine. Frommer's National Parks of the American West, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2012 Eugene P. Kiver, David V. Harris. Geology of U.S. Parklands. NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1999 National Park Service. Cedar Breks: History & Culture, 2012. Retrieved online from http://www.nps.gov/cebr/historyculture/index.htm Read More