National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis has taken over as chair of the North American Wilderness Committee, an international organization focused on boosting wilderness conservation.

The payoff in hiking to LeConte Lodge in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is, in large part, the journey itself. Let Contributing Writer Randy Johnson lead the way with this video.

The Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina interprets a fascinating story of the best of American ingenuity, grit and perseverance. Through talks, exhibits, a movie and just walking, visitors can feel the elation felt by Wilbur and Orville Wright when their plane first stayed in the air for 12 seconds.

Water helped fuel the Industrial Revolution in Lowell, Masschusetts, in the early 1800s, providing a means of generating power for the textile mills there. Today you can float the canals that leveraged the hydropower during weekend tours at Lowell National Historical Park.