Yellowstone National Park

Can you feel the ground rumble under your feet? It feels like a sleepy giant snoring. Warm steam tickles your nose and makes little white clouds in the cool air. Ploop, ploop, bubble! That’s the sound of my muddy puddles talking. They are warm like a bath and smell a little like eggs. Sometimes, with a big WHOOSH, I shoot hot water high into the sky, higher than the tallest trees. It sparkles in the sun before falling back down like rain. My pools of water are painted with all the colors of a rainbow, from bright orange to deep blue. In my green forests, big, shaggy animals called bison wander around, munching on grass. I am a land of wonder, a place where the earth shows its magical, warm heart. I am Yellowstone National Park.

For a very, very long time, I was a secret home. Native American tribes lived on my lands for thousands of years. They knew about my warm waters and respected my wild animals. They understood my power and my beauty. Then, about 200 years ago, explorers with brave hearts started to visit me. A man named John Colter saw my bubbling mud and steamy fountains. When he went back and told people what he saw, they thought he was making up silly stories. But more people came, and they saw that the stories were true. They said, “This place is too amazing for just one person to own. It should belong to everyone.”. So, a kind president named Ulysses S. Grant listened. In the year 1872, he used a special pen to sign a very important paper. That paper was a promise. It said that I would be kept safe and wild forever, not for one person, but for all people. I became the world’s very first national park.

Today, my wild heart still beats strong. Families come from all over the world to see me. Children squeal with delight when my most famous geyser, Old Faithful, shoots water into the air right on time. They whisper quietly when they see a mama bear and her cubs walking through a meadow, or a majestic eagle soaring high above. Scientists visit me to learn about the earth’s secrets, studying my hot springs to understand how our planet works. I am a safe home for wolves that howl at the moon, elk that bugle in the fall, and so many other creatures. I am a treasure for the whole world, a place that reminds everyone of nature’s magic. I am here for you to explore, to love, and to protect, always.