We are lucky enough to live in a city with a fantastic museum system, including the Carnegie Science Center which has an Omnimax theater. They are actually closing it to remodel it into some kind of Giant super theater and as a farewell they screened National Parks Adventure movie. The movie centered on a group of climbers and an adventure tour. There was a lot you would expect all the big names were there; Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, Devils Tower, and Redwood. There were other cameos including Chaco Canyon, the Hoover Dam and the Everglades.
We took our kids to see it and because it was a free member screening we also took our 2 year old. He found the theater frighteningly steep (which it is) and the cinematography paralyzing. He laid face up, on my chest with his cheek pressed against mine, and his tiny arm snaked up around my neck. The terrifying climbing footage, swooping canyon shots and raging waters had him almost whimpering. To be honest it was pretty intense. THEN a prairie dog colony saved the day and adorable rodents calmed him. There was enough animal footage to calm my 5 year old as well. Bears fishing was another winner and broke up the wildfire footage nicely.
There were historic reenactments of John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt which were interesting and gave a taste of the founding of the National Park System. Conservation was touched on regarding bird hunting for hat feathers in the Everglades and the logging industry Redwood. Mostly it was really amazing footage that gives an excellent taste of the grandeur of a wide variety of parks. It’s definitely worth seeing if you get the chance. It’s not the same as going, but is a good introduction or if you can’t travel can definitely feed your interest. Though if they find a way to pipe that hot, baked earth smell during the desert scenes then it might be just as good as going. I definitely get vertigo in Omnimax theaters just like I would at a canyons’ edge. My oldest (8) screamed out “I want to go there” at one point, and luckily it’s Chaco Canyon so I can easily fit that in on our next trip to New Mexico.
Free Rangering 