There are plenty of long-distance rides in the National Park System that are fantastic. The 469-mile-long Blue Ridge Parkway is one, and the 105-mile Skyline Drive in Shenandoah Park is another. But where are the best short drives?
The year began with a gloomy outlook for travel, with forecasts of $5 per gallon or more for gas all summer. Recent price trends, however, have been downward, with the
latest predictions for a national average price of $3.79 per gallon—not much different from 2011. Will the ups and downs of gas prices affect your plans to visit a park this summer?
Earlier this year rangers searched extensively for two men In Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The searches went on for about a week without success. Which brings up this question: How long or how hard should park personnel look for someone reported missing?
It's National Park Week, a time to celebrate the national parks and get out and enjoy them. But it should also be a time for you to ponder the future of the National Park System. With that in mind, what do you think the National Park Service should focus on leading up to its centennial in 2016?
While many national park concessionaires are working to raise the level of their culinary creations, not all are rising as fast as others. But there are some great meals out there, both in and nearby the national parks. What meals and restaurants would you recommend to your friends?
Nevada Barr is the premier writer of novels dealing with national parks and the people who manage, work in, and protect them. If you've read any of the best-selling author's 17 Anna Pigeon Mysteries, please let us know what you think of them.
Place names in long-standing public use are seldom changed, but it does happen from time to time. What named places in the national parks should be given different names? Should we re-name any of the 397 national parks?
Are you anxious about being out of cell phone contact during a park visit? Would you actually decide to skip a trip to a park just because the answer to "can you hear me now?" is ..."no"?