Fall is a season of transition in the National Park System, from long, hot days with crowded roads and trails, to cooler, crisper weather that beckons you to make a few more trips before winter sets in. Here is the second of four suggestions to jump on now, or to add to your to-do list.

Floodwaters, not snow, forced the temporary closure Tuesday of Zion National Park, where monsoonal downpours swelled the Virgin River from a tranquil stream to a raging torrent that flooded portions of Zion Canyon.

The annual Mountain Life Festival in Great Smoky Mountains National Park will take place on Saturday, September 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Mountain Farm Museum adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. This special event preserves the legacy of Appalachian folkways and is a tribute to the many families who lived on lands that later became the national park.

Sure, Halloween is almost nine weeks off, but that doesn't mean the ghosts can't show up early at Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota.