National Parks Traveler

An early season blast of winter made the news the other day when it actually snowed out Game 3 of the National League Division Series between the Phillies and the Rockies. With hopes that the storm was a harbinger of a bountiful winter on its way, here's a list of hikes to help you figure out what to do if you make it to Rocky Mountain National Park when the snow is deep and getting deeper.

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By Kurt Repanshek - October 13th, 2009 4:56am

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National Park Service Looking For Ideas For Managing the Captain John Smith National Historic Trail

How do you manage a 3,000-mile-long historic trail that is largely water-based and touches three states? The folks running the Captain John Smith National Historic Trail are open to your suggestions.

CAJO-Management_Alternatives.pdf

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By Kurt Repanshek - October 13th, 2009 4:10am

Pruning the Parks: Castle Pinckney National Monument (1933-1956)

The Park Service acquired South Carolina’s Castle Pinckney National Monument in 1933, but was glad to see it abolished and transferred in the 1950s. Lacking a glorious past, and too expensive to restore, the old island fort now sits rotting in Charleston harbor.

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By Bob Janiskee - October 13th, 2009 3:35am

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Traveler's Checklist: Biscayne National Park

If you love tropical isles, coral reefs, and sunshine, you’ll love Biscayne National Park.

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By Bob Janiskee - October 12th, 2009 5:50am

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What to Do With the "Dune Shacks" At Cape Cod National Seashore?

They are simple structures, and "shacks" is no doubt a good way to describe them. Built more than a century ago to house members of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, these board structures hidden amid the dunes of Cape Cod National Seashore have taken on a second, or third, life as artists' roosts. But what should the national seashore do with them?

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By Kurt Repanshek - October 12th, 2009 4:38am

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Columbus Day is also Native American Day

The Columbus Day celebration forces the National Park Service to deal with two conflicting themes – joyful celebration of Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World, and somber reflection on the Native American holocaust that ensued.

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By Bob Janiskee - October 12th, 2009 4:35am

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Jon Jarvis Supports More Official Wilderness in National Park System

Wilderness. It's where the wild things are. It's a place where the stress of everyday life in the "real" world can be swept away.

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By Kurt Repanshek - October 12th, 2009 4:32am

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Mammoth Cave National Park Explains Plans To Restore Tour Trails In The Cave

Time and use have taken a toll on the tour routes that wind through the subterranean labyrinth of Mammoth Cave National Park. And so, not surprisingly, park officials say there's a need to rehab some of those routes.

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By Kurt Repanshek - October 11th, 2009 5:43am

A Conversation With Jon Jarvis, the New Director of the National Park Service

Jon Jarvis is swapping emergency sirens outside his West Coast office for emergency sirens outside the Interior Department building in downtown Washington, D.C. And no doubt he'll be picking up the sounds of quite a few figurative sirens from a National Park System struggling with wildlife issues, climate change, morale woes, and competing user demands.