Of all the national park units we have visited, none provide a more pleasant experience than driving the 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Vistas through North Carolina and Virginia aren’t as spectacular as those along Rocky Mountain’s Trail Ridge Road, Glacier’s Going-to-the-Sun Road, or Yosemite’s Tioga Road. However, for a pleasant drive that lasts several days rather than several hours, the Blue Ridge Parkway is without peer.

Having already announced earlier this year that the maintenance backlog across the National Park System is closing in on $12 billion, the National Park Service is now highlighting the structural problems with the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., in a bid to raise congressional awareness of the problems.

Consider it a birthday present to the National Park Service: $48 million to be doled out across the National Park System on projects ranging from improving trail systems and park facilities to bringing youth into the parks.

Weary roads in the National Park System stand to benefit from the federal transportation bill passed last week, as it carries an 18 percent increase in funding for the National Park Service, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.