Want to figure out a way to get over your squeamishness about bugs? Then you might want to attend the first science festival at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, as bugs will be on the agenda.

With peregrine falcons once again staking out their nesting territories in Acadia National Park, it's time for park officials to enforce some temporary trail closures to give the raptors some peace.

My husband, Lenny, and I have been maintaining a section of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail for more than 20 years, first in New York State and now on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. For the last eight years, we’ve been the proud adopted parents of 4.9 miles from Devils Fork Gap to Rice Gap located north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and south of Hot Springs, North Carolina.

Crews in Yellowstone National Park are clearing roads of snow and ice to reopen the routes to vehicles, but that work is expected to take a month or more. In the meantime, hardy bicyclists have an opportunity to experience a ride on some of those roads without competition from other visitor traffic.