National Park Coloring Page

A big wooden sign greets you on this national park coloring page, and everything behind it is a reason to visit. Three bison graze in a green meadow to the right, one big and two small. A creek bends through the grass and disappears behind the sign. A small orange tent sits on the left, ready for the night.

Past the meadow, a thick pine forest spreads from edge to edge. Huge granite walls rise behind it: a smooth dome on the left, a sheer cliff on the right with a thin waterfall, and a snowy peak between them. An eagle sails through the sky, and a rabbit sits up in the grass near the bottom. Little flowers dot the field.

Is it right for your kid?

This is a detailed page, mostly because of that forest. Kids of 8 and up can handle it, and adults will have fun too. Allow about an hour. To speed things up, color the whole band of pines with one dark green and move on.

National park coloring page color ideas

Granite is not plain gray. Try cool gray on the sunny faces and lavender on the shaded ones, and add a little tan near the base. It will look like real stone.

• Deep green pines, with a slightly lighter shade on the back row
• Very dark brown on the bison's shoulders, medium brown on the back half
• Bright orange tent with a yellow door
• Warm tan on the sign, cream on the inner panel

Try a season swap. Golden yellow in the meadow and orange on a few trees makes an autumn trip. White on the meadow and cliff tops turns it into a quiet winter visit, and your bison can have snow on their backs.

Ways to handle the details

Start at the top. The cliffs are large and easy, so they build confidence before you reach the small trees.

Use short, curly marks on the bison's shaggy front half, then smooth strokes on the back half. That small change in stroke tells the eye that the fur differs. A real bison has long hair on its head and shoulders and short hair on its back half.

Trace the letters on the sign in dark marker if you want them to stand out from across the room. The sign is the perfect spot for a clean, bold finish.

Bison facts

The bison is the largest land mammal in North America. Bulls can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and cows about 1,000 pounds. Despite that size, a bison can run 35 miles per hour and jump over objects about 5 feet high, so never walk up to one. In winter it swings its big head from side to side to clear snow off the grass. By 1902, poachers had cut the Yellowstone herd to about two dozen animals. Today Yellowstone is the only place in the lower 48 states with a free-ranging herd going back to prehistoric times. The Yellowstone bison page tells the full story.

Plan a pretend trip

Let your kid plan a day in this park. What will you pack? Where will you hike first? How far should you stay from the bison? Older children can make a small map of the sheet with a trail, a campsite and a viewpoint. In class, each student could pick a real park, find it on a map and share one fact about it.

The tent and the rabbit are the two easy wins here, so hand them to a younger helper. Then the older kid can work on the rock walls.

More places to explore

The camping tent coloring page gets you ready for the night. See mountains from the water on the mountain lake coloring page, and follow the eagle over farmland on the river valley coloring page.

Questions