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National Park Quiz 2: Straddlers

Arizona-Nevada state line marker. Photo by allhype via flickr.

Folks had fun with the little quiz we published last week, so we’ve decided to publish a national park system quiz every week. Most will be themed. The first one was about centers, and several people reported excellent scores. Let's see how you do with this one about straddlers. Straddlers is what we're calling parks that straddle state lines, rivers, mountain ranges, or anything else a park can straddle. We've thrown in a bonus question for extra credit. Answers are at the end. Don’t peek.

1. Gateway National Recreation Area is so-named because it straddles the entrance to New York’s harbor. Which park component is on the New Jersey side?
a. Fort Hancock
b. Jacob Riis Park
c. Great Kills Park
d. Floyd Bennett Field

2. Which of the following national parks straddles the Continental Divide?
a. Great Sand Dunes National Park
b. Glacier National Park
c. Redwood National and State Parks
d. Katmai National Park and Preserve

3. Yellowstone National Park straddles one state border on its northern side and another on its western side. Which of the following statements is true?
a. Three of the park’s five entrances are in Wyoming.
b. Idaho state game laws govern fishing throughout the park.
c. Most of the park’s federally designated wilderness is in Montana.
d. Yellowstone is not the only national park that is located in three different states.

4. Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park straddles the U.S.-Canadian border. Which of the following is in the American part of the peace park?
a. the north end of Waterton Lake
b. the Prince of Wales Hotel
c. the golf course located near Emerald Bay
d. the St. Mary Lake and Wild Goose Island photo op

5. Death Valley National Park straddles the California-Nevada border. Which of the following is on the Nevada side of the park?
a. Scotty’s Castle
b. Grapevine Peak
c. Zabriskie Point
d. Panamint City Ghost Town

6. Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the Tennessee-North Carolina border. All of the recreational activities listed below can be enjoyed by a person visiting this park. Which would involve crossing the Tennessee-North Carolina border?
a. backpacking 30 miles on the Appalachian Trail so you can say “been there, done that”
b. walking from the Clingmans Dome parking lot to the observation platform
c. taking a 33-mile sightseeing drive on the Newfound Gap Road
d. bicycling the entire length of the 11-mile Cades Cove Loop

7. All of the following parks straddle the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail EXCEPT:
a. Olympic National Park
b. Crater Lake National Park
c. Yosemite National Park
d. Lassen Volcanic National Park

8. Golden Gate National Recreation Area straddles the Golden Gate. If I lived in San Francisco, I would have to cross the Golden Gate Bridge if I wanted to visit
a. Fort Funston so I could spend the afternoon watching hang gliders
b. Hawk Hill so I could spend the afternoon watching for raptors
c. Fort Point National Historical Site so I could watch a living history demonstration
d. Sweeney Ridge where Gaspar de Portola became the first European to see San Francisco Bay.

9. In which of the following cultural/historical parks could a visitor straddle a state line while standing on a paved trail?
a. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
b. Colonial National Historical Park
c. Christiansted National Historic Site
d. Martin Luther King, J. National Historic Site

10. Your obnoxious neighbor is on vacation. He calls you on his cell phone and says “Guess what? I’m standing in a national park. My left foot is in Mississippi, but my right foot isn’t. Do you know where my right foot is? You reply: “Sure. Since it’s not in your mouth, it’s got to be in _______.
a. Louisiana
b. Tennessee
c. Arkansas
d. Alabama

Extra credit

11. Artillerymen and naval gunners can use a straddle to quickly zero in on a distant target. When you have one round land behind the target and one round land in front of it, you know the correct range lies in between. Hence the time-honored saying: “one over, one under, fire for effect.” Which of the historic brick masonry harbor forts listed below was on the receiving end of artillery fire whose aim was adjusted this way?
a. Fort Point (at Golden Gate National Recreation Area)
b. Fort Raleigh (at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site)
c. Fort Pulaski (at Fort Pulaski National Monument)
d. Fort Jefferson (at Dry Tortugas National Park)

Answers: (1) a (2) b (3) d (4) d (5) b (6) c (7) a (8) b (9) a (10) d (11) c -- The Confederates surrendered Fort Pulaski after Union artillery breached its front wall. The other three forts were never targeted by enemy fire. Grading: 9 or 10 correct, rest on your laurels; 7 or 8 correct, pretty darn good; 6 correct, not too bad; 5 or fewer correct, nothing to brag about.

Comments

Actually, Bob, the National Park Service only counts Klondike Gold Rush NHP once towards the total of 391 National Parks. I refer you to Page 3 of this PDF file for Reference:
http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/refdesk/classlst.pdf
Although this Park has two superintendents, and hence, two entires in the Index, the National Park Service counts it as a single Unit. But hey, if the National Park Service can count the tiny slice of Glacier Bay around the East Alesk River as a separate "Unit" of the National Park System - why not count as a single National Park two units separated by 1,000 miles!

Or, if we want to really confuse the NPT readers - consider the National Capital Parks, which counts as one of the National Park System's famous 391 Units. As it turns out, this "Unit" of the National Park System is sub-divided into two administrative jurisdictions with two separate superintendents, one for "National Capital Parks - East" and one for "National Mall & Memorial Parks" (the latter was formerly known as "National Capital Parks - Central".) These two superintendents, meanwhile, actually have jurisdiction over at least 15 Units of the National Park System! The superintendent for National Capital Parks-East has jurisdiction over Fort Washington Park, Greenbelt Park, and Piscataway Park which all count towards the 391 Parks total, as well as areas like Anacostia Park, Baltimore-Washington Parkway, Oxon Cove Park, and the Suitland Parkway which do not count towards the 391. At the same time, the superintendent of National Mall & Memorial Parks has jurisdiction of the FDR, Lincoln, Jefferson, Korean War Veterans, Vietnam Veterans, and World War II Memorials, as well as the Washington Monument, Constitution Gardens, Ford's Theatre NHS, and the Pennsylvania Ave NHS, all of which count towards the 391 -- and just to confuse things further, also over the "National Mall" (technically that green space between the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building), which counts separately towards the 391 too. On the other hand, the superintendent of National Mall & Memorial Parks also has jurisdiction over the DC World War I Veterans Memorial, the George Mason Memorial, the Japanese-American Memorial, and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial - all of which don't count towards the 391. Go figure!

It remind me of the old phrase - "the only rule is that there are no rules!" Anyhow I hope this helps....


Sabbatis, this is fascinating stuff. As I may have said already, Kurt and I have been talking about drafting a Traveler article focused on the national park name-game nonsense and the associated administrative labyrinth. You've given us some excellent fodder, and for that we're very thankful. Are you willing to critique our first draft?


I'd certainly be delighted to....


i love it


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