This is the first of a two part series of caches in Bay Meadows, San Mateo. The other will require the finder to have cached at 25 National Parks.
The United States has 61 protected areas known as national parks, which are operated by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. The first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Mackinac National Park in 1875 (decommissioned in 1895), and then Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890. The Organic Act of 1916 created the National Park Service "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." The newest national park is Pinnacles National Park, upgraded in 2013.
Criteria for the selection of National Parks include natural beauty, unique geological features, unusual ecosystems, and recreational opportunities (but not necessarily together). National Monuments, on the other hand, are frequently chosen for their historical, or archeological, significance.
The following National Parks are acceptable for logging:
•Acadia National ParkMaine
•American Samoa National Park, American Samoa Territory
•Arches National Park, Utah
•Badlands National Park, South Dakota
•Big Bend National Park, Texas
•Biscayne National Park, Florida
•Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
•Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
•Canyonlands National Park, Utah
•Capitol Reef National Park Utah
•Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
•Channel Islands National Park, California
•Congaree National Park, South Carolina
•Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
•Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
•Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada
•Denali National Park, Alaska
•Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
•Everglades National Park, Florida
•Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska
•Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri
•Glacier National Park, Montana
•Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
•Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
•Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
•Great Basin National Park, Nevada
•Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado
•Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee
•Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
•Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
•Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
•Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
•Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana
•Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
•Joshua Tree National Park, California
•Katmai National Park, Alaska
•Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
•Kings Canyon National Park, California
•Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska
•Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
•Lassen Volcanic Park, California
•Mammoth Cave Park, Kentucky
•Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
•Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
•North Cascades National Park, Washington
•Olympic National Park, Washington
•Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
•Pinnacles National Park, California
•Redwood National Park, California
•Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
•Saguaro National Park, Arizona
•Sequoia National Park, California
•Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
•Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
•Virgin Islands National Park, US Virgin Islands
•Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
•White Sands National Park, New Mexico
•Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
•Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska
•Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
•Yosemite National Park, California
•Zion National Park, Utah
Proof
In order to prove that you have been to these National Parks, you must include in your “Found it” log (or a “Write Note” log previous to finding it) the link to a bookmark list/ a list written in the log of the Earth/Virtual Caches you have found in the National Parks you have visited.
NOTE: Some units of the National Park Service are sometimes incorrectly referred to as national parks; these do not count for logging; they are listed here:
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/other/npark6.html
As far as the cache goes, Google Earth, or any map, for that matter, is not going to help you much. Trust your GPS because this area has been under recent construction and satellite images will show dirt areas that are now parks and streets. The caches themselves are 1 1/2 star difficulty, but the challenge increases the difficulty. They are all small-sized, tape-covered pill bottles.
Happy Caching and enjoy our beautiful National Parks!