The Canyon Rim Visitor Center at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia will close on January 1, 2024, while the building undergoes extensive renovation, with a reopening date tentatively scheduled for early March. Upgrades to what is the park’s busiest visitor contact station include new exhibits, a new sales area, carpeting, lighting, wall coverings, and new seating for the auditorium.

You can celebrate the season with special activities at some units of the National Park System.

Relaxation doesn’t come naturally to everyone, so when I grudgingly slipped into the steamy, mineral-rich water at Radium Hot Springs, I couldn’t help but think of that deadly day in 1967 when a semi truck hauling gasoline lost control on the steep mountain highway nearby and crashed, killing the driver and spilling more than 7,000 gallons of fuel into the creek that ran beside the hot pool and under the main stone building.

After a year full of challenges, Olympic National Park's Hurricane Ridge Road and recreation area will open for the winter season on the day after Thanksgiving.