While many national parks rightfully can claim miserable concentrations of ravenous mosquitoes in summer months, Congaree National Park actually offers visitors this "skeeter meter" for gauging just how bad things are in the swamps.
Ever get the urge to head into the mountains to make repairs or improvements to hiking trails? Well, if you like to do that kind of thing, the folks at Great Smoky Mountains National Park could use your muscles later this month.
The American Southwest is honeycombed with ruins from long-past civilizations. Mesa Verde National Park and Canyon de Chelly National Monument are well-known for their cliff dwellings, while at Bandelier National Monument the sandstone walls are pocked with "cavates" used as shelter centuries ago.
Progress is being made on plowing of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, but don't expect to be able to drive end-to-end this weekend or even next weekend. But that doesn't mean you can't go out and enjoy the park.
A blind hiker who set off last month to go end-to-end on the Appalachian National Scenic Trail has had to reorganize his trek due to heavy snows and ice in the Smokies of North Carolina. Meanwhile, another visually impaired hiker is set on conquering the Pacific Crest Trail.
A concerted effort in Maine to draw the line on national park visitors arming themselves has fallen short of the original goal. But the measure Gov. John Baldacci signed this week will at least outlaw open carry in Acadia National Park.
If you're planning a visit soon to Rocky Mountain National Park, you might want to read the following carefully and look at your calendar. Park crews plan to be spraying trees around the park through most of May in an ongoing battle against bark beetles.
More than a few national parks are well-known for their ravenous mosquitoes. I can personally attest that you don't want to be on Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park in July unless you actually enjoy feeding these bloodsuckers. In which park can you spot this skeeter meter?
Should there be more uniformity across the National Park System when it comes to regulations pertaining to such activities as air tours, mountain biking, and personal watercraft use, just to name three sensitive issues?