A large jump in visitation at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2012 over 2011 is being attributed to mild weather during the winter and spring months.

Boaters at Lake Mead National Recreation Area will need to pay much closer attention to their fuel supplies after the first of February—the Echo Bay Marina is ending operations. That leaves boaters on the huge lake's Overton Arm without any sources of water-based fuel or other marine services.

Propose a visit to a national lakeshore, and most folks will think you're talking about a warm-weather visit. But as the following video shows, winter can be a wonderful time to visit Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to climb some waterfalls.

Stand in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and you can't help but be enthralled by the lush forests and rolling mountains that surround you. Though a somewhat old landscape to modern civilization, the park continues to toss surprises in terms of the species that inhabit it.