Michael Only recently, we finally had the opportunity to visit a national park that had been on our list for a long time, but was so far off the beaten path that we just couldn't bring ourselves to go: Yellowstone. It is half the size of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and extends into three American states: Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

The name "Yellowstone" comes from the Native American inhabitants who lived in this area more than 11,000 years ago and likely referred to the yellowish stones of the "Yellowstone Grand Canyon" (not to be confused with the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona).

Angelika Yellowstone is not only one of the most popular national parks in the USA, but also the first national park on earth. The American Congress designated Yellowstone as a national park as early as 1872, and it was not until 18 years later that Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite followed. Politicians of that time demonstrated remarkable foresight. They relied on reports of the first explorers and painters who had visited Yellowstone and decided that this special piece of land should be protected from exploitation and destruction.

However, during the first decades, things continued to be chaotic because there was no proper government supervision. Poachers and vandals were causing trouble. In 1886, Congress even called in the military for help, and soldiers (for the only time in the history of American national parks) moved into Yellowstone to protect the park. In 1916, Congress finally established a new agency to protect and manage all national parks according to the founding idea: the National Park Service. Even today, all 58 American national parks are under the authority of this agency. My goal is to visit all the American national parks. I have already seen 23.

Many Americans feel a deep connection to certain national parks, as generations of citizens have spent numerous summers camping, fishing, and hiking in Yellowstone or Yosemite. Unfortunately, some national parks are literally being loved to death by the masses. Parks where attractions are easily accessible by car and require little walking suffer from high numbers of visitors with amusement park mentality. In Yellowstone, we often shook our heads when hordes of visitors would be driving up to some parking lot, quickly take a photo, and jump right back into their cars. However, we often just needed to escape onto a nearby hiking trail to be by ourselves again.

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Fire in California
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  	Namensforschung
  	Party canceled: Halloween in the Castro