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Exploring the Parks

Traveler peels back the layers to help you enjoy your national park experience to the max.

Exploring The Parks: A Visit To The Harry S Truman National Historic Site

Harry S Truman was a true Missourian. It is the state where he was born and raised, where he met his wife to be, where he ran for public office, and where he chose to return following his presidency. Our 33rd president was born of modest means, worked as a businessman and farmer, and progressed up the political ladder from county judge, to U.S. Senator, Vice-President, and, upon the death of President Franklin Roosevelt, President of the United States. After it was all over, he returned to his home in Independence to live a down-to-earth life in the town he loved.

Exploring The Parks: A Stay In Isle Royale National Park

We recently returned for a stay of several nights in Isle Royale, one of America’s most lightly visited national parks. Based on our memory of the previous trip nine years ago, pretty much everything was unchanged, and that was fine with us. The park remains quiet and uncrowded with beautiful vistas, friendly people, and cool temperatures.

Defending Mongolia’s Growing National Park System

A few months ago, when Mongolian national park director Tumursukh Jal was on an official visit to the Grand Canyon, one of his hosts asked a simple question: “How many national parks do you guys have there in your home country?” When Tumursukh mentioned there were 99 of them, his U.S. colleagues seemed a bit nonplussed. “That many, really?”

Quiet Time On The C&O Canal

Crossing the powder-blue bridge spanning the Potomac River at Point of Rocks, Maryland, I feel like I’ve time-warped to another century. With my husband and two children in tow, we have left behind the bustling Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., to stay in a historic lockhouse along the C&O Canal. For one weekend at least we hope to experience what life was like for a 19th-century lock tender and his family, whose livelihood was tied to the daily rhythms of moving boats and goods. If history had gone in a different direction, however, our stay would have been impossible.

Exploring The Parks: A Visit To Keweenaw National Historical Park

We recently returned to Keweenaw National Historical Park in Michigan after an absence of nearly a decade following our first visit in 2007. The national historical park covers a substantial amount of real estate as it spans much of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This large expanse makes it likely a visitor will miss at least some of the park's important features, one of the reasons we chose to visit a second time.

Exploring The Parks: Yosemite's Roaring Waterfalls

Spring in Yosemite National Park following a wet winter is spectacular. Waterfalls roaring, thundering, pouring over granite cliffs, cascading down boulder-strewn canyons. Rainbows in waterfalls. Merced River at flood stage. Lush green meadows. Trees bursting with new spring growth. Lovely white blossoms on graceful branches of dogwood trees reaching out over the Merced River. Snow-capped peaks in the backcountry.

A Return To Homestead National Monument Of America

Our only previous visit to Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska occurred nearly four decades ago while headed east to Indiana from Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California. Driving on U.S. 36 that spans northern Kansas, we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to take a short detour north into southern Nebraska and visit Homestead National Monument, a NPS area that would be a new park unit for us.

Desert RVing In SoCal's Best National Parks

National parks are phenomenal vacation destinations and a great place to bring your home on wheels. But when you do, some challenges are inevitable. Navigating a park’s curvy interior roads can be tricky, and campsites are astonishingly narrow for modern RVs. In Southern California, two neighboring parks perfectly illustrate the range of accommodations for RVers: Death Valley and Joshua Tree. One is more RV-friendly than the other, but both offer an unforgettable camping experience.

On The Road: Hail Columbia

Every year millions of people visit America’s emotional and political center, the District of Columbia. It’s here that the relics of liberty are housed, along with the center of government. A walking tour of the National Mall and Memorial Parks must be on your list when you’re visiting.

Visiting Dry Tortugas National Park With Yankee Freedom III

Ready for crystal-clear water, white sandy beaches, and vibrantly colored tropical fish? How about a dose of history, complete with prison cells, an historic fort, and stories from one of our most iconic writers? Maybe you’d like to snorkel a coral reef or see hundreds of species of birds all in one place. Well, then, it’s probably time for a day trip out to Dry Tortugas National Park on the Yankee Freedom III.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.