National Parks Traveler

November 12, 1958, was an auspicious day for the climbing world and Yosemite National Park. Using siege tactics now considered primitive, a team led by Warren Harding finally conquered El Capitan, a granite monolith that was considered unclimbable. The Nose Route that Harding established is now a classic climb attracting talented weekend climbers, pros, and audacious speedsters.

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By Bob Janiskee - November 12th, 2008 1:29pm

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Flooding Forces Closure of Mount Rainier National Park

Two years after torrential rains unleashed flooding across Mount Rainier National Park heavy rains have returned and forced the park's closure.

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By Kurt Repanshek - November 12th, 2008 12:24pm

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Our Only Privately-Owned National Park Celebrates a Birthday and a Vital Conservation Easement

A new conservation easement has made today’s 12th anniversary celebration extra special at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, America’s only privately-owned national park. A buffer now protects three miles of the border, providing a big boost to the park’s prairie preservation efforts and helping to solidify the park’s reputation as a good neighbor.

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By Bob Janiskee - November 12th, 2008 10:03am

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You Still Can Visit Herman Melville's New Bedford

Books can take us on adventures and to places we never thought possible. Through Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, one can travel the mid-19th Century world's oceans and return to a tiny East Coast sea port once viewed as the world's richest cities.

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By Kurt Repanshek - November 12th, 2008 7:22am

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Arches National Park Finds Its Birthday Overshadowed By Drilling Concerns

How happy can a birthday celebration be when it's overshadowed by the possibility of a blight on the landscape? Of course, one person's blight is another's prosperity. But in the case of Arches National Park, it would seem that we as a nation need to better define how we value those special places called national parks.

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By Kurt Repanshek - November 12th, 2008 4:06am

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National Park Quiz 28: Rivers

This week’s quiz deals with rivers flowing within or through the national parks. Answers are at the end. If we catch you peeking, we’ll make you write “Tributaries joining main streams at right angles is a signature feature of trellis drainage” 100 times on the whiteboard.

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By Bob Janiskee - October 29th, 2011 9:47am

Zion National Park Planning To "Rehabilitate" Mount Carmel Highway

Talk about ambitious. The folks at Zion National Park are planning to do the first substantial rehabilitation of the Mount Carmel Highway in nearly 80 years, something that will not be an overnight job.

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By Kurt Repanshek - November 11th, 2008 12:58pm

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New Solar Power System Puts This Park in the Forefront of Alternative Energy Use

If you had to select a national park in the United States where solar power could reduce consumption of electricity from traditional energy sources, which one would you choose? In one Western park a major system is already up and running.

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By Jim Burnett - November 11th, 2008 4:55am

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23,110 Candles -- One for Each Soldier Killed, Wounded, or Missing

The 20th Annual Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination is slated for December 6, weather permitting. Situated along the five-mile driving tour are 23,110 luminaries – one for each solder killed, wounded, or missing in 12 hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862.

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By Bob Janiskee - November 11th, 2008 3:00am

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Colonial America and the Other San Juan Capistrano

When we hear the term "Colonial America," locations west of the Mississippi aren't often the first to come to mind. Long before the Liberty Bell became a symbol of the United States, however, a story involving a European power other than Great Britain was already well underway in another part of our country.