Overhead, turkey vultures and hawks circle looking for prey. Underfoot, snakes, salamanders and turtle hatchlings do their best to stay hidden. All around, young trees — thousands of them — dot the landscape of what was once a rock quarry and is now part of a project to plant two billion trees across Canada.
For going on 20 years now, the National Parks Traveler has covered both the expected, and the unexpected, stories involving national parks and protected places.
While cleanup from Tropical Storm Helene continues in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Newfound Gap Road that crosses the park from Tennessee to North Carolina is scheduled to reopen Wednesday morning.