It’s the start of National Park Week 2025. If you haven’t already worked up some plans to visit a national park, then this week should be the impetus you need to start formulating an idea for a trip to one of the 433 units within the National Park System.
President Trump’s zest for rapidly shrinking the government is triggering anxiety about conservation priorities that have been embedded for more than five decades in the country’s national parks and wildlife refuges.
Delicate trilliums, glorious columbines, and flamboyant redbuds are some of the harbingers of spring found across the National Park System. This is a favorite season for birds, bees, and photographers. Wildlife is more easily seen in the spring in many parks, too, making the coming three months idyllic for exploring the parks.
We travel to units of the National Park System to see beautiful landscape, learn about history, view amazing wildlife, and to simply learn new things. We take that knowledge (and photos) back with us to impress family, friends, and coworkers. Just how much of that park knowledge stays with you? Maybe more than you realize.
Shenandoah National Park in Virginia is a unit of the National Park System popular for its autumn "leaf peeping" opportunities. To read more about enjoying Shenandoah's fall colors, click here.
Flooding, power outages, and downed trees were among the issues national parks were facing in the aftermath of Helene, which evolved from tropical storm to hurricane and back to tropical storm as it rampaged from the Gulf of Mexico north into Appalachia.
They call people who enjoy viewing fall tree colors "leaf peepers," and there are plenty of leaf peepers at Shenandoah National Park when the weather turns cooler and the trees begin to show off their yellow, orange, and red finery.
Though no longer a tropical storm, post-tropical cyclone Debby packed enough bluster to knock out power at lodges in Shenandoah National Park on Friday.
Tropical Storm Debby was carrying heavy rains across the Carolinas and the Virginias on Thursday, with heavy seas along the Outer Banks of North Carolina that spurred a water quality alert due to a leaking wastewater system at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.