Lakes Mead and Powell aren't the only ones in the National Park System that are getting low. At Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Wyoming and Montana, the lake level is getting low for launches.

Cycling west from Cheticamp, the road itself tells me where Nova Scotia’s Route 30 ends and the highway through Cape Breton Highlands National Park begins. Both are part of the Cabot Trail, but crossing the Cheticamp River into the park, the quality of the road surface visibly improves. It widens and the blacktop is newer without the patches, cracks and bumps typical of the provincial section.

The National Park Service has selected 19 projects to develop new or to improve 15 parks and four trails in economically disadvantaged urban areas in 13 states. These projects, as part of the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership program, would result in the federal investment of $16.8 million in Land and Water Conservation Funds to benefit communities that are under-served with respect to parks and other outdoor recreation opportunities.

A $25,000 gift from Zions Bank to the Grand Teton National Park Foundation will go towards preserving the Mormon Row Historic District within Grand Teton National Park, which includes the iconic T.A. Moulton barn.