Now is the time to be planning your summer or fall vacations to the national parks.

While many fire lookouts across the National Park System are no longer actively staffed, thanks to higher tech options for monitoring lighting strikes, many of these lookouts remain, aging sentinels that recall an earlier day of fire prevention in the national forests and parks. Here's a look at some of the lookouts to be found within Mount Rainier National Park.

Think ice fishing is little more than cutting a hole in the ice and dropping a line into the water? To learn some of the nuances, plan to visit Voyageurs National Park later this month for some tips from a pro.

The new catalog of summer courses through the Yellowstone Association Institute is out, and deciding which one(s) to take part in could prove difficult.