There are plants and insects named after special days of the calendar, such as this Halloween Pennant Dragonfly seen around Pickerel Lake at the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Ranging from New Mexico and Colorado to as far north as Maine, this dragonfly gets its name from its orange-and-black wing coloration. BOO!! Happy Halloween!
"In the middle of a bustling urban setting, this 72 mile river park offers quiet stretches for fishing, boating and canoeing, birdwatching, bicycling, and hiking. And there are plenty of visitor centers and trails that highlight the fascinating human history of the Mississippi River."
It's time to test your national parks knowledge and learn a little bit of national parks trivia, too, with the latest National Parks Quiz and Trivia piece (#14). See how much you know about the nation's protected lands before checking the answers at the bottom of the piece.
The citizens of Minneapolis are coming together to give new life to the riverfront along the Mighty Mississippi. Nearby, old mills are now museums, warehouses are co-op apartments, light transit abounds, and pedestrians walk new trails. This bustling metropolis is looking towards the river, knowing that in order to preserve historic structures in historic areas that have outlived their usefulness, you have to give them new life with a new purpose.
From a vast, fascinating underworld in western South Dakota to the mighty Mississippi in Minnesota on down to Florida where "supercolonies" descended on Everglades National park, there is much to see in the National Park System. And Traveler's Essential Park Guide for this fall will point you in the right directions.
There is a pretty cool program being offered this summer along the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in Minnesota. You can now rent a kayak in advance and take it out on the water once you reach the national river.
In the National Park Service, the acronym "VIP" usually stands for "Volunteers in Parks," but recent awards confirm an alternative meaning could be "Very Impressive Performance." The recipients of the 2009 George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service were honored at a recent ceremony, and their work was impressive indeed.