Crews were gaining the upper hand Monday on a fire at Rocky Mountain National Park, while teams were dispatched to battle a backcountry blaze at Dinosaur National Monument. Meanwhile, a search for a missing visitor at Mesa Verde National Park was scaled back, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe was moving closer to managing the southern half of Badlands National Park.

While many national park lodges are on the National Register of Historic Places, not all lodges reflect the preservation and well-maintained appearance you might expect for such properties. In this, the second of our two-part series, the Traveler looks at why some properties are not as well-maintained as you might expect.

Devils Tower National Monument, Badlands National Park, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park all have made it into the Center for Great Plains Studies' list of top "ecotourism" destinations in the Great Plains.

Cool air, soft light, and smooth pavement greeted us as we rode into Badlands National Park, a park whose name suggests unforgiving ruggedness but which offers a sweet ride that leads you through those badlands and across windswept prairie.