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National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 218 Image

Travel extensively through the National Park System, and you’ll quickly come to realize that the parks' restaurants try to reflect the local culinary trends, or at least use local ingredients in crafting their menus. For instance, visit national parks in Alaska and you can pretty much count on salmon in the dinner offerings. Travel through the parks in the Rocky Mountains, and elk (and sometimes bison) will appear on the menus. Explore parks in the southwest, and you can almost predict that cacti will show up in some form.

You can be amazed at the menus that chefs in the National Park System roll out. Even more amazing is how they feed hundreds of people at meal time, and largely maintain consistency with what they put in front of you. This week we’re going to explain how you can mimic some of these chefs in your own kitchen. Our guest is Linda Ly, author of “The National Parks Cookbook.” We’ll see if we can inspire you with new home menus, from beverages and appetizers, to entrees and desserts.

:02 National Parks Traveler introduction
:12 Episode Intro with Kurt Repanshek
1:05 Otter Point - Nature’s Symphony - The Sounds of Acadia
1:23 Grand Teton National Park Foundation
1:52 Great Smoky Mountains Association
2:13 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
2:40 The National Parks Cookbook with Linda Ly
10:40 Black Woods - Nature’s Symphony - The Sounds of Acadia
10:57 Traveler Promo
11:09 The Everglades Foundation
11:20 Friends of Acadia
11:45 Interior Federal Credit Union
12:14 The National Parks Cookbook with Linda Ly Continues
31:26 Flamingo - Tim Heintz - The Sounds of the Everglades
31:37 Potrero Group
32:04 Washington’s National Park Fund
32:38 Yosemite Conservancy
33:06 The National Parks Cookbook with Linda Ly Continues
1:02:51 Bass Harbor - Nature’s Symphony - The Sounds of Acadia
1:03:20 Episode Closing
1:04:00 Orange Tree Productions
1:04:33 Splitbeard Productions
1:04:44 National Parks Traveler footer

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 328 | How Wild

Today our guest is Marissa Ortega-Welch, a San Francisco-based freelance journalist who focuses on environmental issues. Last year she generated a series of podcasts surrounding the topic of official wilderness – the history of official wilderness and the idea of wilderness. It’s an interesting series that you can find by searching for How Wild wherever you download your podcasts.

June 8th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 327 | Plight of the Parks

So much is happening so quickly to the National Park Service. There have been staff reductions, hiring freezes, spending freezes, orders from the Interior Secretary to make sure that visitors find national parks welcoming, no matter what it takes.

June 1st, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 326 | Environmental Partisanship

Is green a red and blue construct? Put another way, is there a political partisan divide over the environment?

That’s a particularly interesting question, no doubt more so in recent years as the country seems to have drifted farther and farther apart because of our political beliefs. To that point, a reader reached out the other day to say our stories shouldn’t be negative on the Trump Administration because the national parks are going to need the help of all of us - Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and everything in-between - to survive.

May 25th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 325 | Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

News around public lands these days seems to revolve entirely around the Trump administration. In the case of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, many of the steps the administration is taking with the operational efficiencies of the National Park Service and other land management agencies certainly are keeping PEER busy.
 

May 18th, 2025 Read More

National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 324 | North American Bird Declines

True birders are some of the most determined and persistent hobbyists out there. If you want to call bird watching a hobby. For many, it’s more like a passion. Many look forward to “Big Day” competitions, where individuals and teams strive to see how many different bird species they can spot in a 24-hour period.

May 11th, 2025 Read More

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The easiest way to explore RV-friendly National Park campgrounds.

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Here’s the definitive guide to National Park System campgrounds where RVers can park their rigs.

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