There's been plenty of discussion lately about the need to help kids "connect" with nature, and Wind Cave National Park is doing something about it. The park is offering programs for exploring nature with children and discovering the park’s backcountry.

Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina offers a historic lighthouse, birding, fishing, miles of beaches, wild horses, shell collecting and other delights. If you'd like to spend the night on an island in the park and prefer not to camp, reservations for cabins are being taken beginning today for the 2010 season.

If you're looking for opportunities to view bald eagles this winter, one park with that option may surprise you. Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Oklahoma is offering two Bald Eagle Watch events later this month

Last year’s travels took me to half a dozen national parks new to my resume. This year there are five new ones and five old friends on the horizon. A guy could do worse.