The tourism and recreation industries have taken a big hit from the COVID-19 closures. The repercussions impact everyone from hotels to ski resorts to airlines to cruise lines. In our national parks and protected places, outfitters have not been exempt either, and have faced some drastic decisions as to their future leading rafting trips downriver.

Units of the National Park System continued to close Friday in a bid to avoid the coronavirus pandemic, with Lassen Volcanic National Park in California, Glacier National Park in Montana, and Arches and Canyonlands national parks in Utah closing their entrance gates, and many other units further restricting visitor services. U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona also called for the closure of Grand Canyon National Park.

Seeking to bend the coronavirus curve, governors and mayors have told millions of Americans to stay home. If you’re pondering what to read, it’s easy to find lists featuring books about disease outbreaks, solitude and living a simpler life. But it’s much harder to find a book that combines these themes.

Just because you're sheltering in place during the coronavirus pandemic doesn't mean you need to put national parks out of mind. Along with exploring virtual tours of parks, spend some time downloading episodes from National Parks Traveler's podcast library.

Though visitation to Zion National Park reportedly has fallen greatly since the park's campgrounds and lodge were closed, rangers on Thursday had to rescue two area residents who suffered injuries in the park.

A trip of a lifetime, running the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National, has been scuttled by the coronavirus pandemic.

Hours after Coconino County officials in Arizona, frustrated that Grand Canyon National Park is still open despite the worsening coronavirus pandemic, urged Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on Thursday to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and close the park, the National Park Service announced some operational changes at the park.

The Mexican wolf population in the Southwest rose by nearly 25 percent in 2019, bringing the wild population to 163 individuals in Arizona and New Mexico, including some in the general vicinity of Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.

Coronavirus continued its march across the National Park System on Wednesday, leading to the closure of Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Mesa Verde, Valley Forge, and much of Acadia, and greatly reduced operations in other parks.

What do you do when you’re stuck at home, dreaming of the fresh air, beautiful landscapes, and trail adventures of a national park or other public land? You sit down to your computer and Google it! A little bit of web surfing can produce quite a few virtual tours created by the National Park Service for you to enjoy from the comfort of your own home. Contributing editor Rebecca Latson lists some links that will take you on virtual tours where you can listen and learn about your favorite national park or a place you plan on visiting in the future, without ever moving from your couch.

A historic farm that borders Pea Ridge National Military Park in Arkansas has been obtained by conservation groups that hope to transfer it to the park once the National Park Service gains funding for the acquisition.

Vandalism, illegal camping, overcrowding, and short-staffing issues are cropping up and overtaxing some units of the National Park System due to the coronavirus pandemic. The issues are reminiscent of those that arose during the partial government shutdown of 2018-2019.

Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks announced Tuesday afternoon that they would be closed to all visitors. The announcement came hours after Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials, unable to discourage visitors from coming into the park, announced that they would close most of the park to the public in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus. That was followed by news that the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway would close, and Mount Rainier National Park officials said they were closing all roads into their park.

You've planned months or even a year ahead for that once-in-a-lifetime trip to a particular national park.Your arrival, however, may coincide with smoky landscapes from a forest fire, near or far. Don't let that deter you from enjoying your stay and using your camera. Photographer Rebecca Latson provides ideas to help you get WOW-worthy shots on even the haziest of days.

As the coronavirus pandemic slowly but steadily moved across the country, more units of the National Park System altered their operations Monday. Zion National Park moved to close the popular, and often crowded, Angels Landing Trail and the park's campgrounds, while lodging and concessions operations at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on the other side of Utah shut down.

One snowmobiler is dead and another alive and hospitalized following a misadventure in the Wild Mountain area of Colorado that took them into Dinosaur National Monument.

On Friday, March 20, a day when normally most people would be at work, Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park was teeming with cars. Although a growing list of parks have closed in the face of coronavirus concerns, some national parks, including two popular spots in the mid-Atlantic region—Shenandoah and the National Mall—remain open to park visitors.

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is the latest park to announce its closure to the public, with staff saying the park would be closed beginning Sunday.

Hours after the mayor of the biggest gateway town to Rocky Mountain National Park on Friday wrote Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to ask him to close the park to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from sweeping over his town, the park closed to the public.

Closings streamed in from across the National Park System on Friday, ranging from campgrounds and river trips to all of Yosemite National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park and most of Everglades and Biscayne national parks being shuttered as efforts ramped up to halt the spread of coronavirus in the park system.