You are here

Home » National Parks Traveler

Essential Paddling Guide: Everglades, Exploring The River Of Grass

On a windless morning, under the kind of flawless blue sky that always appears in ads for Florida vacations, our paddles send quiet ripples across the otherwise glassy surface of Chokoloskee Bay. As our two canoes glide past a signpost marking the Indian Key Pass water channel, two ospreys lift off from their nest atop the post and flap lazily over the water.

Essential Paddling Guide: Prime Paddling Spots, South

Rivers run fast and tumbling throughout the National Park System, there are streams with lazy meanders, and placid lakes perfect for dipping a paddle. This diversity poses a delightful dilemma when you have the urge to float and paddle. What follows is just a sampling of the experiences that await you, whether you have hundreds of watery miles under your paddle, or are looking for calm waters to take your youngsters.

Essential Paddling Guide: Olympic National Park’s Elwha River Running Wild Again

Run, river, run. That was the sentiment in the fall of 2011 when work began on the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. Taking down the 105-foot-high Elwha Dam and its sibling, the 210-foot-high Glines Canyon Dam, was history in the making. With the Elwha River’s headwaters high in Olympic National Park, it was more than just the removal of concrete.