When the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican-American war that was waged over the United States’ annexation of Texas, it contained an agreement that the Rio Grande River defined the international border between the United States and Mexico. However, this treaty also created the Chamizal dispute.

Big Cypress National Preserve doesn't have the same name attraction as its next door neighbor, and that's not a bad thing. Enter its realm and you might find one of the world's most unique orchids, a forest of "dwarf" trees hundreds of years old, and a wild kingdom of raucous birds and toothy reptiles.

How often do you hear Cumberland Island National Seashore mentioned?

Late one evening last summer, about the time that bats take to the air, I was stretched out on a patch of warm sand next to the Green River in Utah’s Desolation Canyon, waiting for stars to appear. Next to me were a couple my age from Baltimore and their two young grandsons, part of a group enjoying a six-day float trip with a Utah adventure outfitter. As darkness fell, the glittering band of the Milky Way spread above us from cliff to cliff. This was one of the reasons we had come to this place, for the “star river,” as the ancient Chinese poets called it, is no longer visible from our homes in the city.