The Peaks of Otter Lodge has been reopened along the Blue Ridge Parkway, although all National Park Service operations along the Parkway remain closed.

Among the many casualties of the government shutdown are some of the popular webcam views of locations around the National Park System, since NPS and some other government web services have been disabled for the duration of the dispute. If you enjoy the ability to check in on favorite park locations via those cameras, all is not lost, however, and we'll provide some tips about park webcam views provided by non-government sources.

Once the partial government shutdown ends -- and it will -- and the National Park System is back in business, advocates want to see Congress properly fund the National Park Service.

There are trees, big trees, and really big trees that are recognized as national champions by American Forests. And one of those champion trees, a chesnut oak, can be found in a small Civil War setting in Washington, D.C., preserved by the National Park Service.