Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

"Established on March 1, 1872, Yellowstone National Park is the first and oldest national park in the world. Preserved within Yellowstone are Old Faithful Geyser and some 10,000 hot springs and geysers, the majority of the planet's total. These geothermal wonders are evidence of one of the world's largest active volcanoes; its last eruption created a crater or caldera that spans almost half of the park. "   from:  http://www.nps.gov/yell/

Mammoth Hot Springs

"At Mammoth Hot Springs, a rarer kind of spring is born when the hot water ascends through the ancient limestone deposits of the area instead of the silica-rich lava flows of the hot springs common elsewhere in the park. The results are strikingly different and unique. They invoke a landscape that resembles a cave turned inside out, with its delicate features exposed for all to see. The flowing waters spill across the surface to sculpt magnificent travertine limestone terraces. As one early visitor described them, "No human architect ever designed such intricate fountains as these. The water trickles over the edges from one to another, blending them together with the effect of a frozen waterfall."  from:  http://www.nps.gov/yell/nature/geothermal/mamterrc.htm

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Grand Teton Mountains

"Towering more than a mile above the valley of Jackson Hole, the Grand Teton rises to 13,770 feet. Twelve Teton peaks reach above 12,000 feet and support a dozen mountain glaciers. The west side of the range slopes gently, showing the angle of tilt of the Earth's crust. The Teton Range is the youngest range in the Rockies and displays some of the North America's oldest rocks."    from: http://www.nps.gov/grte

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Wildlife

"An outstanding mountain wild-land with clean water and air, Yellowstone is home of the grizzly bear and wolf, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk. It is the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact temperate zone ecosystems remaining on the planet."  from:  http://www.nps.gov/yell/