Rising temperatures are amplifying the effects of recent drought on the Colorado River, which plays a key role in the health of national parks such as Canyonlands and Grand Canyon, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report.

What’s in a name? Well, when you hear Hance, the Big Drop, Lost Paddle, or Lava Falls, we’re talking about some of the largest, craziest river rapids in our national parks. Interesting names, for sure, but how do they rate? We posed this question to our river rats: What are the best rapids in the parks? They came up with quite a list. So, if you’re looking for exciting and death-defying whitewater in the parks…

Maps unlock the world in front of us...even if we're not standing right in front of the landscape contained on the map we're gazing at. They allow us to wander through the landscape, cross mountains, ford rivers and streams, and envision campsites in the backcountry. And, in the case of a new eBook, they allow us to look into the past of some national park settings.

“Running on empty” unfortunately is a very apt description of the Colorado River Basin, which long has had its water overcommitted. Today, the vast watershed that stretches from the mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of California and helps nourish some 30 million residents in the Southwest and Mexico is mired in a long-running drought that threatens to dramatically recast the already-arid region.