A World of National Parks Trivia Quiz

Answer: Japan

Chubu Sangaku National Park is Japan's most spectacular hiking region. It is located on Honshu in the Hida Mountains, or Northern Alps, stretching through the prefectures of Nagano, Toyama, and Gifu.

In contrast, the Southern Alps are located in New Zealand.

A portion of Europe's Alps is also referred to as "Northern Alps." They are located in Austria and the Bavarian state of Germany.

Answer: Argentina

Nahuel Huapi Lake, after which the park is named, gets its name from a large island whose name means Island of the Jaguar. The word nahuel can mean either jaguar or puma, but it also carries the connotation of a man who has been turned into a puma through sorcery.

Rumored to be an inhabitant of the lake is Nahuelito, a large plesiosaur-like creature, similar to Scotland's Lake Ness monster. Based on stories from local legend, the Buenos Aires Zoo has been searching for evidence of the beast since the 1920s.

Nestled in the Andes on the Chilean border, the park features two types of river otters, the huemel (South Andean deer), cougars, guanacos, and maras (cavy-like rodents).

Answer: Turkey

In central Anatolia lies the Göreme valley with its spectacularly eroded landscape and rock carved dwellings and sanctuaries, dating back to the Fourth Century. Also found are subterranean cities and Byzantine-style art within churches and other structures protected as UNESCO Heritage Sites. Highlights of tourism in this area of Cappadocia include hot air balloon flights above the rock chimneys and cone-shaped eroded landscapes.

It is not known for sure just when the valley was first inhabited, but evidence suggests it goes back to the Hittite times between 1800 and 1200 B.C.

Answer: South Africa

The Kruger National Park is located in extreme northeastern South Africa, and runs for about 220 miles along the border with Mozambique. It is bounded on the north by the Limpopo River and on the south by the Crocodile River.

The Big Five are the five African big game animals that are considered most difficult on foot. They are the lion, Cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, and rhinoceros.

Answer: Wales

Called the Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri in Welsh, the park includes Wales' highest peak, Snowdon, in its 827 square miles, as well as 37 miles of coastline. Snowdon is the highest point in Britain outside Scotland at 3,560 feet. Dominated by mountains, 70% of the national park is privately owned.

Answer: Taiwan

Nicknamed "The Marble Gorge," the park's name of Taroko means "human being" in the Truku language of the local people. Rafting is a popular sport on the Liwa River, which formed the gorge which names and makes up the dominant character of the park. Found within the gorge is a type of jade that can only be found in Taiwan and which supplies the jade in Hualien City, the closest city to the park.

Answer: Iceland

Making up about 14% of Iceland, Vatnajökull is Europe's second largest national park. It contains the Vatnajökull glacier, the largest in Europe outside the arctic. On the south side of the glacier is Iceland's highest peak, Hvannadalshnjúkur. Geeze, I certainly would not like to take a spelling test over these names, eh?

Answer: Slovenia

Hiking, water sports, and waterfalls are all abundant in Triglav National Park, located in northwestern Slovenia, just about equidistantly from Italy to the west and Austria to the north. With an area of only about 340 square miles, the park nonetheless has two different watersheds with many waterfalls, the highest of which is Boka Falls, with a height of 348 feet. All of the lakes of the park are glacially fed.

Answer: Canada

Formed in 1895, Waterton Lakes is Canada's fourth national park. It lies on the southern boundary of Alberta and, along with its neighbor, US's Glacier National Park, the two form Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. In its article about Waterton Lakes, Wikipedia lists 22 species for "animals that inhabit this national park," but the only bird it mentions is the bald eagle.

The two parks together are also identified as a World Biosphere Reserve.

Answer: China

A key characteristic of this spectacular park located in central China are pillar-like formations seen throughout the park, photographs of which, according to Chinese officials, served as inspiration for the floating Hallelujah Mountains seen in the 2010 film "Avatar." The park is also a notable example of world-wide parks identified in the International Network of Geoparks.

The Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge, mentioned in the question, is 984 feet (300 m) high and 1,410 feet (430 m) long.