National Parks Traveler is the world's top-rated, editorially independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas on a daily basis. Traveler offers readers and listeners a unique multimedia blend of news, feature content, debate, and discussion all tied to national parks and protected areas.
National Parks Traveler Podcast
This week we talk with Robert Young, director of Western Carolina University’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines about a project to more accurately determine the cost sea level rise could inflict on coastal units of the National Park System. We also take a look ahead to summer in the National Park System, the watery side of the system specifically, with a look at some of the prime sea kayaking destinations awaiting paddlers in the National Park System.
Who makes those colorful interpretive panels found in the National Park System? One person is Steve Patricia. He’s an independent artist and content specialist who provides illustrations and diagrams for waysides, exhibits and murals at national parks, monuments, and historic sites all over the country. He explains his work to Lynn Riddick in this week's podcast.
This week we pick up with the musings of Doug Leen. As a young park ranger in the 1970s, Leen stumbled upon a poster promoting a meet-the-ranger event at the Grand Teton National Park. It turned out to be one of 14 long-forgotten silk-screened posters made under the Works Progress Administration to promote tourism to the national parks.
Lynn Riddick sits down with Doug Leen, the force behind Ranger Doug Enterprises, to discuss his decades long search for original Works Progress Administration posters that depicted national parks across the West. And we leave you with some thoughts on what we all should be thinking about for National Park Week.
What will the 21st century national park campground look like? What amenities are you interested in finding when you pull into a campground? Derrick Crandall, counseler for the National Park Hospitality Association, joins us to discuss two studies that examine the campgrounds, the issues they face, and the demands today’s campers want.
We’re going to take a trip to start this week’s show, at least an audio trip of sorts, to the heart of Yellowstone National Park and its wild kingdom. A place where wolves, grizzlies, and elk roam free and sandhill cranes catch your attention with their curious chortling. And Dan Puskar, the president and CEO of the Public Lands Alliance, discusses how its membership works to provide educational and interpretive materials for the parks, and how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted those groups.
This week we talk with National Parks Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno about the impact coronavirus is having on the National Park System, and check in with author Richard Louv on his latest book, Our Wild Calling, How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives, and Save Theirs. If you visit national parks to view the wildlife, you’ll want to listen to this conversation. And Lynn Riddick concludes her four-part series on San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with a visit to Mission San Juan.
The impact of coronavirus on the National Park System truly is unprecedented. Unlike the impacts partial or full government shutdowns have on the parks, government funding won’t overnight solve those impacts created by the growing spread of coronavirus. To take a look at how coronavirus is affecting the parks and the National Park Service, we’ve gathered three park experts, including former National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, who combined have more than a century of experience with the national parks and public lands.
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The Essential RVing Guide
The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.
This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.
You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.
So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.
