Seeing Beyond The Lake At Crater Lake National Park

Gnarly and wizened, she can’t compete with Crater Lake’s impossibly blue beauty. Nor does she try as she stubbornly clings to life at the edge of the caldera. They quietly call her the Grandmother Tree but don’t mark the spot where she stands with... THE WHOLE STORY

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 296 | Crime Off The Grid

Crime happens, even in national parks, national forests, and other public lands. There are murders, thefts, robberies and all sorts of crime that we’d hope to escape by heading into the kingdom of public lands. It can be hard to accept that national... THE WHOLE STORY

  • A gray carriage road bordered by tall green trees and carpeted with autumn bright gold leaves at Acadia National Park in Maine
    A Golden Carriage Road, Acadia National Park
    Acadia National Park - Rebecca Latson

    Acadia National Park in Maine is another one of those units of the National Park System famous for it's fall foliage colors. You can learn more about what you might see during different seasons at Acadia by clicking here.

  • Bright gold, yellow, and orange fall foliage photographed from an overlook at Shenandoah National Park
    Autumn Foliage As Seen From Point Overlook, Shenandoah National Park
    Shenandoah National Park - NPS/Dave Kiel

    Shenandoah National Park in Virginia is a unit of the National Park System popular for its autumn "leaf peeping" opportunities. To read more about enjoying Shenandoah's fall colors, click here.

  • Fantastic corkscrew and squiggly shapes created by white gypsum and an ink pen next to the cave formations for scale at Jewel Cave National Monument
    Gypsum Flowers, Jewel Cave National Monument
    Jewel Cave National Monument - National Park Service

    Gypsum "flowers" are a speleothem (cave formation) that form when thicker gypsum crystals form and grow outward from the cave walls. They often form curved or flower-petal-like shapes. To learn more about speleothems at Jewel Cave, click here.

  • A yellow tent all lit up by lanterns at a Grant Campground campsite with a picnic table surrounded by trees and a starry night sky above, Yellowstone National Park
    A Tent Beneath The Stars, Yellowstone National Park
    Yellowstone National Park - Rebecca Latson

    There's something to be said for pitching a tent beneath the stars at one of Yellowstone National Park's many campgrounds. You can read about those campgrounds by clicking here.

  • Tipi poles on a dry grass prairie with tall blue mountains in the distance and dramatic storm clouds overhead, Big Hole National Battlefield
    Tipi Poles And Tall Mountains, Bighole National Battlefield
    Big Hole National Battlefield - National Park Service

    146 years ago today, just before dawn, gunshots rang out throughout the peaceful valley of ?ıckumcılé.lıkpe (Big Hole Valley), startling awake a sleeping camp of 800 nimí·pu· (Nez Perce). Hatalekin, an elder setting out to check upon his herd of horses, had been shot down by a group of Bitterroot civilian volunteers. Thus began the Battle of the Big Hole, wherein 60-90 nimí·pu·—largely women and children—and 31 soldiers and volunteers were killed. Big Hole National Battlefield in Montana was created to honor all who were there.

  • The low-light interior of the restored Great Kiva with a short set of stairs at one end, square-cut windows all around the circular interior, and two rectangular holes opposite each other near the entrance at Aztec Ruins National Monument
    Inside The Great Kiva, Aztec Ruins National Monument
    Aztec Ruins National Monument - NPS - Andrew Kearns

    Aztec Ruins has some of the best-preserved Chacoan structures of its kind. The ceremonial Great Kiva is a semi-subterranean structure, over 40 feet in diameter. Great Kiva is the oldest and largest reconstructed building of its kind. 

  • A red sandstone pueblo with one large wall and the remains of several rooms at Wupatki National Monument.
    Lomaki Pueblo, Wupatki National Monument
    Wupatki National Monument - Bryan Turnbull

    "Lomaki" means "beautiful house." Some 900 years ago, when the weather was cooler and wetter, ancestors of contemporary Pueblo communities created a bustling center of trade and culture that included Lomaki Pueblo at what is now Wupatki National Monument in Arizona.

  • A line of gold- and orange-leafed trees with tree-covered mountains in the distance at Shenandoah National Park
    Fall Colors At Shenandoah National Park
    Shenandoah National Park - NPS - Dave Kiel

    They call people who enjoy viewing fall tree colors "leaf peepers," and there are plenty of leaf peepers at Shenandoah National Park when the weather turns cooler and the trees begin to show off their yellow, orange, and red finery.

  • Sunlight glowing through the long ears of a black-tailed jackrabbit hopping along rocky ground, Joshua Tree National Park
    Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, Joshua Tree National Park
    Joshua Tree National Park - NPS - Jane Gamble

    Hike around Joshua Tree National Park and you might spy a black-tailed jackrabbit hopping over the landscape. A jackrabbit's ears are long and large because those ears help regulate the jackrabbit's temperature and keep it cool during a hot day at the park.

  • A paved trail next to a cliff dwelling within Walnut Canyon National Monument
    A Cliff Dwelling Seen Along The Island Trail, Walnut Canyon National Monument
    Walnut Canyon National Monument - Patrick Cone

    "It has been more than 700 years since Walnut Canyon echoed with the voices and sounds of a robust pueblo community. Today, the Island Trail leads you back in time, and welcomes you into the world of the Native people archeologists call Sinagua. You'll experience 25 cliff dwelling rooms along the trail; and gaze at others visible across the canyon."

  • A view overlooking a bay of turquoise-blue water surrounded on three sides by beaches and tropical trees, Virgin Islands National Park
    The View From Johnny Horn Trail, Virgin Islands National Park
    Virgin Islands National Park - National Park Service

    Who doesn't dream, from time to time, of warm, brilliant turquoise-blue waters rimmed by sandy beaches and tropical vegetation beneath a sunny sky? Perhaps your vision looks much like the view you'll see from Johnny Horn Trail on St. John Island at Virgin Islands National Park. A little under 2 miles, this is a strenuous hike that's steep and rocky in places, but the view at the top is amazing.

  • A steamy, clear, blue-green Emerald Spring surrounded by yellow-orange soil and trees in Norris Basin at Yellowstone National Park
    Emerald Spring In Norris Basin, Yellowstone National Park
    Yellowstone National Park - Rebecca Latson

    Microorganisms play a large part in coloring hot springs at Yellowstone National Park. According to the National Park Service, "The color of Emerald Spring comes from the inherent blue of the water combined with the yellow of the sulfur-coated pool. The water in this 27-foot deep pool is so hot (close to boiling) that only the most heat-tolerant thermophiles can survive. In sulfur-rich hot springs, such as Emerald Spring, some microorganisms use sulfur as their energy source. Byproducts from these reactions can be used by other microbes. This kind of “recycling” ties the various microorganisms into diverse functioning communities."

  • A shiny curving line of the Missouri River at night, beneath a starry sky and the Milky Way, with the glow of a distant town, Theodore Roosevelt National Park
    The Milky Way Above The Little Missouri River In Wind Canyon, Theodore Roosevelt National Park
    Theodore Roosevelt National Park - NPS - Jeff Zylland

    "Half the park is after dark," says the National Park Service. There are spots within Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota that offer broad vistas perfect for night sky viewing and photography.

  • Rocks and the awe-inspiring ancient uplifted El Capitan reef glowing with light from a setting sun at Guadalupe Mountains National Park
    El Capitan at Sunset, Guadalupe Mountains National Park
    Guadalupe Mountains National Park - NPS - D. Buehler

    According to the National Park Service, "Capitan Reef is now recognized as one of the most well-preserved fossil reefs in the world ... Movement of faults over the last 20 million years caused a long-buried portion of the Capitan Reef to rise several thousand feet above its original position. This uplifted block was then exposed to wind and rain causing the softer overlying sediments to erode, uncovering the more resistant fossil reef and forming the modern Guadalupe Mountains. Today the reef towers above the desert floor as it once loomed over the floor of the Delaware Sea 260 to 265 million years ago."

  • A single hiker sitting on a rock ledge watches a bright orange sunrise at Shenandoah National Park
    Watching The Sun Rise, Shenandoah National Park
    Shenandoah National Park - National Park Service

    Spectacular vistas and amazing sunrises await you at Shenandoah National Park.

  • Desert bighorn sheep precariously perched on a steep red-rock cliff wall at Canyonlands National Park
    Precariously Perched Desert Bighorn Sheep, Canyonlands National Park
    Canyonlands National Park - NPS - Jennifer Anderson

    According to the National Park Service, "Desert bighorn sheep roam some of the most inhospitable land in canyon country. Their diet consists of the same spiny shrubs that scrape the shins of hikers. Once feared to be nearing extinction, the desert bighorn is making a tentative comeback in southeast Utah due to reintroduction efforts by the National Park Service. With one of the few remaining native herds, Canyonlands has been a vital source of animals for this program."

  • An expansive view of landscape below, ocean beyond, and blue sky above,  with a narrow trail along a rock precipice with iron hand rungs, Acadia National Park
    Early Iron Rung And Stonework Of The Precipice Trail, Acadia National Park
    Acadia National Park - NPS - Michael Custodio

    Precipice Loop Trail is definitely not for the faint of heart. With an elevation gain of almost 1,000 feet (305 m) just under a mile (1.4 km), this trail "is a rugged, non-technical climb with open cliff faces and iron rungs. Upon reaching the summit of Champlain Mountain, climbers are rewarded with impressive views." Precipice Loop Trail, however, "is not recommended for small children, for people with a fear of heights, or for anyone in wet weather. Descending the Precipice is dangerous and not advised."

  • Upright beige-colored petrified tree trunks along a steep hillside overlooking a valley in Yellowstone National Park
    Petrified Tree Forest On Specimen Ridge, Yellowstone National Park
    Yellowstone National Park - NPS - Neal Herbert

    According to the National Park Service:

    Nearly 150 species of fossil plants from Yellowstone have been found, spanning 500 million years, from the Cambrian to the Holocene. Most petrified wood and other plant fossils come from Eocene deposits about 50 million years old, which occur in many northern parts of the park. Best known are the fossil forests of Specimen Ridge, where the remains of hundreds of these 50-million-year old trees stand exposed on a steep hillside, with trunks up to eight feet in diameter and some more than 20 feet tall. The specimens include sequoia, fir, and numerous deciduous species.

    You can hike to this "stone forest" using the Specimen Ridge Day Hike Trail.

  • A red-colored road leading through the ancient dunes and cross-bedded hills of eastern Zion National Park
    The Red Road Through Zion National Park
    Zion National Park - Rebecca Latson

    Just where will that park road take you? Perhaps through the eastern portion of Zion National Park along the Zion-Mt. Carmel Road? You'll drive past ancient, lithified, cross-bedded sand dunes in saturated colors of orange, pink, and beige, on your way toward Checkerboard Mesa.

  • A flock of sandhill cranes in the foreground, with flat lands and sand dunes in the midground and snowcapped mountains in the distance beneath a cloudy sky, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
    Sandhill Cranes, Dunes, and Mt. Herard In The Distance, Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve
    Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve - National Park Service

    One of 250 bird species found in the park, More than 20,000 sandhill cranes will spend 6 - 7 weeks each year in the San Luis Valley during their annual migration to southern New Mexico. Look for them in early February through late March, then again in late September through late March.