As the Covid pandemic enters its third year, the desire to be outdoors continues to push the number of campsite and other reservations made through recreation.gov, which also has noticed an increase in cancellations.

More people are leaping into the RV lifestyle every year. They’re exploring national parks in comfort, but all that extra traffic makes spontaneous road trips to the parks largely a thing of the past, at least during the busy summer season. With more rigs on the road than campsites to accommodate them, RVers like me are constantly competing for a scant number of RV-friendly campsites. I learned this lesson the hard way when I arrived at Yellowstone without reservations.

What’s notable about February is that there are so many parks which were established that month: Indiana Dunes, Gateway, Acadia, Denali, Grand Canyon, and Grand Teton national parks. Test your knowledge about these national parks with this quiz, and maybe learn a little something too.

Another tranche of Great American Outdoors Act money is flowing into the National Park System, this time to Great Smoky Mountains National where $31 million will be spent to rehabilitate 17 miles of Foothills Parkway West.