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Exploring the Parks

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

La Historia Del Monumento Nacional De Chamizal

Cuando el Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo de 1848 puso fin oficialmente a la guerra mexicano-estadounidense que se libró por la anexión de Texas por parte de los Estados Unidos, contenía un acuerdo de que el río Río Grande definía la frontera internacional entre los Estados Unidos y México. Sin embargo, este tratado también creó la disputa Chamizal.

Enter The Everglades: A Journey Of Land And Water

Before I came to the Florida Everglades, I imagined only a province of swamps and sawgrass—a watery place, nearly submerged. So I am surprised to be crunching along a trail deep in a dry landscape that, to my untrained eye, resembles something like the Serengeti Plain. As far as I can see, an open field of shrubs and grasses is studded with towering slash pines that stand apart from each other, perforating the blue sky

Exploring The Parks: Logs To Lustrons, Sand To Swamp At Indiana Dunes

The engine growls and gears grind as the yellow school bus lurches ahead. The hard, dark green, vinyl bench seat accentuates the jolt. Memories of a childhood decades removed flash through my mind. I feel a surge of youthful energy as we begin a tour of the diverse and interesting architecture in and near Indiana Dunes National Park.

The River’s The Thread: Floating The Green Corridor In Utah’s Desolation Canyon

Late one evening last summer, about the time that bats take to the air, I was stretched out on a patch of warm sand next to the Green River in Utah’s Desolation Canyon, waiting for stars to appear. Next to me were a couple my age from Baltimore and their two young grandsons, part of a group enjoying a six-day float trip with a Utah adventure outfitter. As darkness fell, the glittering band of the Milky Way spread above us from cliff to cliff. This was one of the reasons we had come to this place, for the “star river,” as the ancient Chinese poets called it, is no longer visible from our homes in the city.

The African Photo Safari Simplified

While growing up, nerve-racking, spine-tingling, heart-pumping stories of hunting man-eating tigers and leopards in India by such legends as Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson ensured that my passion for the wild and the wilderness was set on a never-ending, all-consuming fire, while stories by forest guides and jungle guards about their encounters with tigers, leopards, elephants, sloth bears, wolves, jackals, and hyenas went a long way in painting a magical and mysterious picture of the jungle in my heart and mind. In August 2007, I made my way into the Jim Corbett National Park armed with a fine but borrowed point-and-shoot camera. Since then I have progressed to be a professional natural history photographer.

Swamp Fever At Jean Lafitte National Historical Park And Preserve

Barataria Preserve is one of six sites managed as part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, an umbrella park of natural and cultural sites named for the early 19th-century French pirate and smuggler who helped Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans during the War of 1812. Taken together, the sites paint a rich portrait of coastal Louisiana: The Barataria unit protects some 26,000 acres of wetlands, while the Chalmette National Battlefield unit honors the resounding American victory in January 1815.

Winter Opens Snowy National Parks To Hardy Adventurers

Thanksgiving week brought a lot of snow to much of the country. I returned home to find 8-9 inches of the white stuff in the yard, and a decided chill (low teens) in the air. All of which naturally got me thinking about how to enjoy the winter months in the cold weather side of the National Park System. If you’re looking to enjoy parks chilled and blanketed by winter, here are some destinations to consider.

Counting Cacti At Saguaro National Park

Take saguaros out of Saguaro National Park, and you’d lose more than the park’s namesake cactus, one that gives skyward structure to the vista here. You might strain to catch the drumming of the Gila woodpecker, fail to catch an elf owl peering out from its cavity nest, and not know where to look for Lesser long-nosed bats. All these creatures rely on the saguaro for food and shelter. Realizing those possible losses to this Sonoran Desert landscape begs the question, "How are the park’s saguaros doing?"

Arkansas Post: Sentinel Of The Lower Mississippi River

One of the joys of visiting every unit managed by the National Park Service is driving rural roads to historic sites located off the beaten path. Not only is the final park destination guaranteed to be worth the drive, but the opportunity to experience rural America on state highways and county roads can be equally edifying and enjoyable. We experienced both on a recent visit to Arkansas Post National Memorial located on the Arkansas River just upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi.
  • By stratto - November 8th, 2019 2:00am

Exploring The Parks: A North Cascades “Base Camp” Stay

What comes to mind when you hear the words “base camp?” Tents beneath Mount Everest, perhaps? How about something a little closer to home, bordering the incredible turquoise-hued water of Diablo Lake in Ross Lake National Recreation Area, beneath the mountains of the North Cascades? Photographer Rebecca Latson spent a couple of nights at the North Cascades Institute Environmental Learning Center's "Base Camp" and writes about her experience.

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.