Though the summer months are the peak travel seasons for national parks in the Rocky Mountain region, the winter months with their snow and cold...and often crystalline skies...are perfect for a retreat to the Rockies. Here's a handful of parks worthy of your consideration.

The enormous variety of areas in the National Park System means there's also quite a range of experiences when it comes to getting to and from your park destination. Whether you're taking the subway or city bus to an urban park or riding a train, small plane or ferry to reach your destination in Alaska, there are plenty options for a memorable trip...and sometimes they can be memorable indeed.

Maps. They're the stuff of explanation, and dreams. Explanation of what lies out yonder on the landscape, and dreams of what yet's to come. If you're thinking of visiting Glacier National Park, either just to drive through on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, or to spend some time exploring the backcountry on hiking trails, there are two new maps to help bring your vision to fruition.

How do park visitors react when they see a bear in the wild? The answers are all over the proverbial map, depending on the specific situation. Last summer, a visitor used a cell phone camera to record an encounter with a bruin by a group of hikers on a trail near Logan Pass, in Glacier National Park. The short video offers some interesting insights in human, and bear, behavior.