National Parks Traveler

Killarney National Park is the oldest national park in Ireland, and a popular tourist destination. In a controversy mimicking similar debates in U.S. parks, Killarney is currently the scene of controversy over a requirement that horse-drawn carts using the park be fitted with a "dung catcher device," referred to in some media reports as "nappies."

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By Jim Burnett - July 18th, 2009 7:57am

7 comments

Another Entrance-Fee-Free Weekend in the National Parks

Well, this coming weekend is the second of three set aside this summer for the National Park Service to forgo entrance fees. What impact is it having?

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By Kurt Repanshek - July 14th, 2009 6:00pm

15 comments

National Park Quiz 63: Pools

The theme of this week’s quiz is a term that has at least 13 different meanings. We’ll pretty much stick with the standard connotation, but not entirely. Answers are at the end. If we catch you peeking, we’ll make you clean the Traveler wishing well and count all the pennies.

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By Bob Janiskee - October 29th, 2011 4:52am

3 comments

National Park Mystery Spot 1 Revealed: Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Were Here Too

Did you take a crack at yesterday’s mystery spot quiz? If not, you might want to go ahead and do that before you read this.

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By Bob Janiskee - October 31st, 2011 8:50am

2 comments

Reader Participation Day: Are Park Entrance Fees Fair?

Earlier this summer Interior Secretary Ken Salazar designated three weekends as "entrance free" weekends in the National Park System. Anecdotally, the first of those three weekends attracted larger-than-normal turnouts to many parks. Which makes us wonder, do you mind paying entrance fees, or should they be eliminated?

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By Kurt Repanshek - October 3rd, 2009 1:36pm

31 comments

Rangers Looking for Missing Paddler at Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park rangers were searching Tuesday for a paddler who apparently failed to make it to shore after the canoe he was in overturned on Swiftcurrent Lake.

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By Kurt Repanshek - July 14th, 2009 11:56am

3 comments

National Park Mystery Spot 1: Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth Used It

It’s a place somewhere in the National Park System. Can you identify it if we give you five clues?

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By Bob Janiskee - December 19th, 2009 10:25am

4 comments

Let's Start a Tradition: "Thank a Ranger Day"

When was the last time you thanked a national park ranger?

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By Kurt Repanshek - July 10th, 2009 5:55pm

13 comments

How To Avoid A Bear Attack in the Great Outdoors, The Cartoon

Sometimes humor is the best approach, wouldn't you agree? That's the approach the folks at Howcast Studios took with their playful video, "How to Avoid a Bear Attack."

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By Kurt Repanshek - July 12th, 2009 11:21am

8 comments

Got Long Ties to Great Smoky Mountains National Park? Park Officials Want to Hear From You

Were you born on the landscape now covered by Great Smoky Mountains National Park, or where you perhaps a member of a Civil Conservation Corps group that worked in the park? Or were you in attendance when President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the park in 1940? If you fall into any of those groups, park officials want to hear from you.