Have you ever stopped to consider the wide variety of duties performed by employees at a national park? In honor of Labor Day, here's a peek back to a bygone era at some of the duties for the first NPS employee assigned to take care of Winsor Castle.

On a recent Monday, as I was hiking near treeline in a quiet part of Rocky Mountain National Park, I rounded a corner to see a gigantic bull elk. He hadn’t seen me, but ran down the open hillside to a creek, where he pawed at the water and thrashed at it with his antlers, sending up silver curves of droplets and a splashing sound through the small valley. He then slowed to drink.

Work is underway at Grand Canyon National Park's South Rim to help ease traffic congestion, but "progress" will mean a detour and parking changes for the next few days. Here's what you need to know if you're visiting the South Rim this week.

The National Park System lost a strong advocate when Arthur C. Allen passed away on Friday.