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.

Enos Mills learned at a young age how beneficial the outdoors could be. The “father of Rocky Mountain National Park” was just 15 years old in 1885 when he made his first climb to the top of Longs Peak in what later would become the national park.

Amid all the hoopla, celebration, and excitement surrounding the National Park Service's 100th birthday this year, one fact is inescapable: Lodging in the parks this summer will be hard to find. But...it won't be impossible to find.

For the sake of argument, let us agree with the Obama Administration that the Earth is warming up. Should we respond by being scared or cautious and, if scared, exactly what should we be frightened of?

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.

There’s a new “Monkey Wrench Gang” MOVIE rumor circulating on the internet. A web site called “New WorldOdor.com” reports that Leonardo DiCaprio is secretly producing the film version of Edward Abbey’s 1975 masterpiece, somewhere in Arizona. Leo himself is reportedly playing the role of ‘Seldom Seen’ Smith.

Even in its death throes, the super bloom that swept across Death Valley National Park was extraordinary.

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.

Up in the northwest corner of Yellowstone in the middle of the valley of the Lamar River lies a place known as the Buffalo Ranch. It’s the place where most of a few remaining bison in the world were saved from extinction. It’s also the place where wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone in 1995.

A National Park Service decision that gave Wyoming officials control over wildlife management on private and state lands within Grand Teton National Park seems to have sidestepped historic negotiations that led to today's Grand Teton National Park, as well as longstanding court rulings that have upheld the Park Service's authority to manage all wildlife within the park, even on non-federal lands.

In November 2014, in a stunning out-of-the-blue reversal of decades of settled policy, the National Park Service ceded to Wyoming authority over wildlife on approximately 2300 acres of state- and privately-owned "inholdings" within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park.

After years of drought, the Sierra is back on track. Snow-wise, that is. Winter 2015-16 has been particularly bountiful compared to recent winters, and by mid-February the Sierra snowpack was standing at 99 percent of normal, with more snow in the forecast.

Judging from last year’s head count in the National Park System—a record 307.2 million—you can pretty much be assured that many parks will be even more crowded this summer as the National Park Service Centennial is celebrated.

Less than two years after an oyster-farming operation was shut down in Point Reyes National Seashore following a dispute that was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, three environmental groups are challenging the National Park Service over the planned renewal of leases to cattle-ranching and dairy operations that have existed on the coastal California peninsula for 150 years.

Given all the superlatives of Point Reyes National Seashore, it’s amazing that exotic animals (cattle) that damage the landscape are permitted to continue grazing in a national park unit where native species and natural ecological processes are supposed to be given priority.

Early on a March morning, about 75 bison grazed peacefully inside a fenced enclosure at the Stephens Creek bison operations facility in Yellowstone National Park, unaware that their final journey was about to begin.

A soaring new 3D IMAX film premiered recently, showcasing the wonders of national parks from Katmai in Alaska to Everglades in Florida. Narrated by none less than Academy Award® -winner Robert Redford, the film was created by the National Park Service and Brand USA in honor of the Park Service’s 100th anniversary and is airing here and in 60 countries around the globe. Intended to showcase the best of our nation, the film falls woefully short as critics have pointed out, because it features only athletic, young white Americans recreating in pretty places.

Of all the national park units we have visited, none provide a more pleasant experience than driving the 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Vistas through North Carolina and Virginia aren’t as spectacular as those along Rocky Mountain’s Trail Ridge Road, Glacier’s Going-to-the-Sun Road, or Yosemite’s Tioga Road. However, for a pleasant drive that lasts several days rather than several hours, the Blue Ridge Parkway is without peer.

The view eastward from Point Loma, at just 422 feet above the Pacific, encompasses San Diego Bay, the city skyline, and the low silhouette of the Laguna Mountains against a brilliant sky. To the west, the surf pounds rocky cliffs and the steely-blue ocean stretches to the horizon. In 1542, Spanish conquistador Juan Cabrillo, the first “tourist,” gazed across the scenic landscape from this same viewpoint.

Famous naturalist John Muir said, “The Big Tree (Sequoia gigantea) is Nature’s forest masterpiece, and . . . the greatest of living things. . . . No description can give any adequate idea of their singular majesty, much less their beauty.”