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Lake Powell long has been the shimmering heart of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah and Arizona, but it’s not the only asset of the NRA that covers 1.25 million acres.
This is Kurt Repanshek, your host at the National Parks Traveler. Last year I had the good fortune to visit Glen Canyon NRA twice –- once in May to kayak Lake Powell -- and then in July when I backpacked into the park’s backcountry to not just admire its beauty but watch efforts to reverse the spread of invasive vegetation in the park.
I recently had the great opportunity to visit Everglades National Park in South Florida on the tail end of the dry season.
Gazing out across the national park as we drove south from the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center towards Flamingo, my eyes swept across sawgrass prairie that was broken only occasionally by tree islands. Ivory-white egrets and great blue herons were the most obvious birds on this soggy landscape, though a few ospreys cruised overhead.
Lyndon Baines Johnson had a staggering impact on the United States during his time as president. Much of his approach to government was instilled during his early life in Texas. In this, part two of her podcast on the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, the Traveler's Lynn Riddick visits the president's boyhood home and ranch.
The LBJ Ranch was where he was born, lived, died, and was buried.
Lynn was introduced to the park by Ranger Brian Vickers.
Those who have ascended to the presidency of the United States are products of the environments in which they were born, raised, and educated. Their early experiences usually have a significant effect on how they manage their presidency and the subsequent policy and programs developed under their watch.
Lyndon Baines Johnson is a fitting example of that. His presidency was guided in full measure by his upbringing, his personal experiences with poverty and shame and his observation of racism and hate.
Some 615,000 visitors a year flock to the hard-packed gray sands of Padre Island National Seashore along the Gulf Coast of Texas. Mild winter temperatures here allow the national seashore to be fully enjoyed year-round, although summertime visitors can expect relentless heat, despite the epic Gulf breezes that blow nonstop.
For much of the 20th century, there were efforts to drain the Everglades, the world famous "river of grass" in Florida, to make way for agriculture, industry, and communities. More recently, more effort has been focused on restoring the Everglades, to let the sheet of water that heads south from Lake Okeechobee down to Florida Bay flow more naturally, as naturally as possible.
We’re all aware of the rush to the outdoors that the covid pandemic has spawned. From coast to coast, national parks, national forests, and state parks are being crowded, if not overrun at times, by visitors. Whether it continues now that the pandemic seems to be easing will be interesting to watch.
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Here’s the definitive guide to National Park System campgrounds where RVers can park their rigs.
Our app is packed with RVing- specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 national parks.
You’ll also find stories about RVing in the parks, tips helpful if you’ve just recently become an RVer, and useful planning suggestions.
