Geology of National Parks: Home

Rocky Mountain National Park
photo courtesy of Penn State Libraries Pictures Collection

This guide presents selected resources related to the geology of US national parks. To find additional material, search the library catalog using common keywords like national parks and geology, or the name of a particular park. You can also browse the Science Library Annex collection in the QE71 - QE79 call number range, or browse virtually by choosing "Advanced Search" under "Search the Catalog" and choosing "Science Library Annex" from the Location dropdown menu.

The following books can be found in the UNC library collection. Click on each title to see more detailed information, including specific location.

General

• The geologic story of the national parks and monuments. Harris & Kiver, 1985.
• Geology and America's national park areas. Ellwood, 1996.
• Geology of national parks. Harris, Tuttle, & Tuttle, 1997.
• The granite landscape: a history of America's mountain domes, from Acadia to Yosemite. Wessels, 2001.
• Parks and plates: the geology of our national parks, monuments, and seashores. Lillie, 2005.

Specific Parks

Alaskan Parks

• The ice-age history of Alaskan national parks. Elias, 1995.

Badlands

• Geology of Badlands National Park: a preliminary report (electronic resource). Stoffer, 2003.

Big Bend

• Geological, geochemical, and geophysical studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Big Bend National Park, Texas (electronic resource). Gray & Page (eds.), 2008.

Canyonlands and Arches

• Canyonlands country: Geology of Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. Baars, 1993.

Death Valley

• Geology underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley. Sharp & Glazner, 1997.

Everglades

• The geology of the Everglades and adjacent areas. Petuch & Roberts, 2007.

Grand Canyon

• Anatomy of the Grand Canyon. Hamblin, 2008.
• Geologic guide to Grand Canyon National Park. Gordon, 2000.
• Grand Canyon geology. Beus & Morales (eds.), 2003.
• An introduction to Grand Canyon geology. Price, 1999.

Great Smoky Mountains

• A roadside guide to the geology of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Moore, 1988.

Rocky Mountains

• The geology of Rocky Mountain National Park (electronic resource). Effinger, 1934.
• The ice-age history of national parks in the Rocky Mountains. Elias, 1996.

Western Parks

• Pages of stone: Geology of Western national parks and monuments. Chronic, 1984-1988.
  v.1 - Rocky Mountains & Western Great Plains; v.2 - Sierra Nevada, Cascades, & Pacific Coast;
  v.3 - The Desert Southwest; v.4 - Grand Canyon & the Plateau Country

Yellowstone and Grand Tetons

• Roadside geology of the Yellowstone country. Fritz, 1985.
• Windows into the earth: the geologic story of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Smith & Siegel, 2000.

Yosemite

• The geologic story of Yosemite National Park. Huber, 1987.
• Geological ramblings in Yosemite. Huber, 2007.

National Park Service

• Search by Geologic Feature
  Explore national parks by geologic feature. Each topic page links to parks with those features, including caves, fossils, glaciers, volcanoes, and more.
• Search by Park Name
  Search by name of park to find information about the park's geology.
• Search by State
  Search by state to locate national parks and learn about the park's geology.
• Geologic Wonders of the National Parks
  Examples of geologic phenomena at selected parks.
• Geology in the Parks
  The NPS and USGS present information on general geology topics and the geology of selected parks, including virtual field trips.

U.S. Geological Survey

• Geology of National Parks
  3D and photographic tours featuring park geology and natural history.
• Parks by Geologic Province
  Search the map to locate parks within a specific geologic province.