The spectacular views from the Chimney Tops Trail make the two-mile route one of the most popular in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but heavy use and steep terrain have resulted in major resource damage and safety issues. Here's good news: phase one of a project to rehab the trail has just been completed.

Two backpackers missing in the rugged backcountry of Glacier National Park were found Monday afternoon after enduring four days of wintry conditions that included 18 inches of fresh snow.

Wintry weather conditions have been making the search for two missing backpackers in Glacier National Park particularly difficult, both because of the cold and snow in general and because that snow could be covering up some clues.

On clear, calm nights, from the top of Buck Hill you can see them flickering off in the distance. Not campfires, but rather gas flares, emblematic of North Dakota's energy boom, glimmering after dark. Here, in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the flares are just one sign of how the boom, spurred in large part by fracking, are impacting the park.