If you're lucky enough to have Monday off in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, treat yourself with a visit to your nearest national park. Monday is the first of nine days this year when entrance fees to the parks will be waived.

Rocky Mountain National Park includes some top-tier scenery and opportunities for enjoying the out-of-doors all year long, and some fans of the park say winter is their favorite season at "Rocky." Upcoming activities in the park include ranger-led snowshoe walks, cross-country ski tours and full moon walks, and areas for winter camping and sledding are also available.

As Rocky Mountain National Park and highway officials ponder what to do about reopening the Alluvial Fan area and Old Fall River Road following the destruction wrought by the September floods that scoured so much of Colorado’s Front Range, it is worth noting that Bear Lake Road easily survived the floods.

A Virginia politician wants the state to take back Shenandoah National Park, ranchers say there are too many elk at Point Reyes National Seashore, and plunging visitation at Rocky Mountain National Park is costly.