Author and professor John Elder envisioned the ideals for Vermont’s only national park at the opening of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in 1998, calling it "...an entirely new kind of park. It must be one where the human stories and the natural history are intertwined..."

Winter's vagaries -- blizzards and periods without snow, sub-zero thermometer readings, and unseasonably warm temps -- can toss you curveballs when it comes to enjoying the season in the National Park System, but if you plan carefully you can be prepared with alternatives.

Crowds in particularly popular areas of the National Park System are challenging park managers to manage the crowds while preserving the natural resources. One solution that seems to be growing is to require reservations for access, something that's been adopted at Zion and Acadia national parks and tested at Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah national parks.

A slow motion eruption of sorts is continuing on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, with a sluggish stream of lava heading towards a highway that bisects the Big Island.