Our children are more sedentary and spend less time outdoors than any generation in American history. New research suggests that the hidden costs include a decline in concern for the welfare of others. There’s a cure for that.

Peals of thunder, gently falling rains, the slap of surf against the rocky shores of Acadia National Park, even the roaring of a geyser. These are some of the sounds of nature that have been pulled into musical compositions that revolve around national parks. Produced by Robb Klein, an audio engineer, and Randy Petersen, a musician, these CDs capture the moods of nature found in the parks, and can spur fond memories of your visits while you're far from the parks.

There are times during the hardest of Rocky Mountain winters, when the mercury slides far below zero, that Yellowstone Lake’s heavy mantle of ice grinds and groans under the pressure of shifting flows. Snow can fall so deeply on Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming’s northwestern corner that workers at times must clamber onto the rooftops of lodges and cabins to shuck off the fluff so it doesn’t collapse the roofs.

For most, a national park vacation entails booking a room in a lodge or reserving a spot in a campground, arriving at the park and checking in, and then spending a number of days hiking, paddling, or traveling the park to view various sites, whether they focus on waterfalls, geysers, deep forests, museums, or cultural focal points. Here are some alternatives to that approach, some pricey, some not so.