A free backcountry tour of Scotts Bluff National Monument in western Nebraska is being offered on June 27, when Ranger Matt Salomon will lead visitors into the monument's badlands.

Emergency repairs to replace a culvert will require closure of a short section of the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park in Maine between Kebo Street and Sieur de Monts in Bar Harbor.

Barring any unforeseen wintry storms, the Going-to-the-Sun Road across the roof of Glacier National Park in Montana has opened for the summer. The road may now be accessed by motorized vehicles all the way through from both the West Glacier and St. Mary entrances. This is the earliest the road has opened since 2005.

In Tennessee, Great Smokey Mountains National Park harbors a one-way road in bucolic Cades Cove. Its 11-mile paved loop is loaded with scenery, historical sites, and wildlife. But we’d heard about the cove’s famed car jams due to around two million annual visitors: lines of vehicles inching slowly along the road and parking lot congestion that prevented stopping at sites. Clearly, the car approach did not appeal to my sister or me!