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.

Humans aren't the only ones heading to the parks. At Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, there's be a noticeable increase in black bear activity in campsites throughout the park, so be sure to store your foods and scented items properly if you're planning to camp there.

That headline packs a wallop. There are those who either disagree the climate is changing due to human behavior, or that there's nothing that can be done regardless of the driver, as well as those who would love to see more national park lands and those who believe such a move would tie up federal lands from multiple resource activities, such as logging or mining.