A review of accident reports from 54 national parks points to falls as the leading cause of death in those parks, with Yosemite and Grand Canyon national parks ranked one and two for falling fatalities. When all causes of death are counted, Grand Canyon comes out ahead in terms of fatalities recorded in the parks since 2010.
Each year, there are thousands of search-and-rescue incidents logged across the National Park System. They typically involve missing hikers, visitors who get injured in falls, boating accidents, or climbing accidents.
This week’s show is going to the birds. Counting, birds, that is, what with the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count officially kicking off Monday and running through January 5. We sat down with Geoff LeBaron, who long has overseen the annual count for the National Audubon Society, to discuss the program.
What motivates people to hike as far as they can as fast as they can? For many who live near Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the answer can be found on the trails.
Winter, the season with cold, snow, short days and long nights, can be a challenging season to explore the National Park System. Yet it also holds surprises that reveal themselves in shimmering lights darting across the night sky, in tracks of what passed the night before across the snowscape, and in congregations of wildlife.
In addition to elk, visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park might also be fortunate enough to see beavers, bighorn sheep, black bears, marmots, and any of the other 67 species of mammals that make their home in this national park in Colorado.
With winter closing in around Trail Ridge Road In Rocky Mountain National Park, staff have officially closed the high-elevation route to thru-traffic until spring melt.
Though fires still are burning within Rocky Mountain National Park, they are in remote locations, allowing park staff to begin assessing the losses the park suffered from wildfires this year.