This park includes a unique visitor center and an excellent living history program, but before it was added to the National Park System, it was primarily known as a memorial to the mother of one of our most famous presidents. Mom still gets plenty of respect, but her son is now the focus in a small park that has lots to offer.

With all the talk of late about the prospects for a colorful, and plentiful, bloom in Death Valley National Park, let's start talking flowers in earnest. For instance, have you ever seen a Desert Five-Spot in the park?

Officials in Big Bend National Park have issued some slightly unusual guidelines for backcountry campers in parts of the Texas park: "Leave shoes outside tents or in bear boxes if camping in High Chisos backcountry sites." Recent experience suggests this is good advice.

Winter can be a great time to visit Arches National Park, but the off-season is also a good time for maintenance and repairs. The road to Delicate Arch, one of the park's signature attractions, had been closed this month for major work inspired by flooding in 2006, but it's now open again for public use.