Created in 1916, the National Park Service preserves and maintains national parks, historic sites, battlefield and military parks and sites, memorials, monuments, preserves, reserves, and other natural and heritage areas. Discoveries… America National Parks is a forty-part series exploring the many wonderful places administered by the National Park Service; this film covers units in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. With narration by knowledgeable park staff and filmed using video, still photography, and archival footage, this documentary offers an inviting glimpse into the natural beauty and border history of these southwestern states.
The first stop on the tour of Texas is Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park which tells the story of the two-year war with Mexico. Park staff intentionally show both sides of the conflict in a war where the United States gained almost seven states and Mexico lost half of its territory.
Next, Chamizal National Memorial preserves the spot where an agreed-upon continuous boundary replaced the Rio Grande River as the border between Mexico and America. The site also celebrates the border culture, history, and heritage of the two countries. Residing along the Rio Grande River in southern Texas, Big Bend National Park is one of the largest, most far-off, and least visited parks—despite its beautiful landscapes and opportunities for kayaking and canoeing through the river canyons of the Rio Grande.
At Big Bend, visitors may also enjoy backpacking and hiking in the high rugged desert areas. Big Thicket National Preserve includes over 100,000 acres of wild forest and water areas ideal for canoeing, kayaking, bird watching, and hiking. At the Alibates and Flint Quarries National Monument in western Texas, rangers provide guided tours of the quarries in the high plains, where multicolored flint is found. The park ranger points out many edible and medicinal plants along the trail as well. Before leaving Texas for New Mexico, Guadalupe Mountains National Park sits at 5,600 feet, with three of the highest mountains in Texas, and 80 hiking trails.
In New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns is a unique site with caves carved out by sulfuric acid. The caves contain formations such as stalagmites found on the ground and stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Visitors have a choice between self-guided tours along a cave path or guided adventure tours requiring helmets, ladders, and ropes. At the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, visitors see remnants of adobe brick homes created by indigenous hunter-gatherers from the end of the 14th century.
The final stops in Arizona occur in the Sonoran Desert. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument features cactus reaching sixty feet tall and the Saguaro National Park near Tucson has 614 species of desert plants including the magnificent Saguaro cactus. Covering areas as diverse and less well-known as these sites, the film highlights the many wonderful resources managed by the National Park Service in the southwest. Recommended. Aud: E, J, H, C, P.