The newly designated Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail will link three national parks, seven national forests, several major mountain ranges, and two border-to border national scenic trails. One day it will also be a key link in the coast-to-coast pathway that trail developers have been dreaming about.

Experiencing our national parks’ grandeur from the saddle of a road bike is a bit like summiting a high peak. The arduous pedal through the park is rewarded with the scenery and equally thrilling descent from the park roads’ high points. Fall is sublime for cycling in national parks, so with the season quickly approaching, now is the time to experience the Mountain West’s greatest national park road cycling routes.

The 1980 movie “Heaven’s Gate,” a mega-flop filmed in Glacier National Park, was so wretched that it nearly destroyed the director’s reputation, helped extinct United Artists, and sent Hollywood westerns to the doghouse.

It's hard to believe, particularly since Labor Day Weekend is a week later than normal this year, but the closing of many concession operations in Glacier National Park isn't that far off. It seemed just yesterday that they finally were able to open the Going-to-the-Sun Road from end-to-end, and now the prospect of snows closing it back down isn't too terribly far off.