Travel Tips
Mountains, seashores, grasslands, wetlands, coral reefs and glaciers. Our national parks protect a multitude of terrains for every taste. And with more than 400 national park units across the country to explore, it can be daunting to choose which one you want to visit the soonest. Luckily, you have help.
Nature & Wildlife
Just five days from now, the magic will happen. Santa Claus will step into his gift-laden, reindeer-powered sleigh and make his annual, around-the-world trip. The character of Santa Claus was originally inspired by the fourth-century, Greek bishop Saint Nicholas of Myra in Asia Minor (now Turkey), a man renowned for his generosity and kindness.
Nature & Wildlife
Our national parks protect some of our nation’s most cherished, iconic and native wildlife species, such as the brown bears of Katmai National Park and the bison—America’s national mammal—of Yellowstone National Park. But, according to some, there’s a dark side to that safety.
News & More
Every year from April 18–26, the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation join together to celebrate National Park Week. It’s a way to invite people to engage with the national parks, but also an opportunity to commemorate the rich history of the National Park Service.
News & More
Let’s step into the Wayback Machine and go to 2015, just six years after producer Ken Burns’ documentary miniseries The National Parks: America’s Best Idea had aired on PBS in 2009. At that time, I wrote to you about the overcrowding in our national parks—in part due to that widely popular TV program.
Conservation
During the drought conditions in the summer of 2021, wildfires raged throughout the western U.S. For example, as of September 12, 2021, the Dixie Fire is the second-largest wildfire in California history. It might seem ironic, then, to choose this time to talk about wildfires in a positive light.
Conservation
Throughout the United States, Native Americans own and/or manage nearly 95 million acres of deserts and forests, grasslands and mountains—much of it in still-intact habitats. That’s 10 million more acres than the National Park Service administers. These extensive holdings make tribes extremely important and significant partners in habitat and wildlife protections.
U.S. National Parks
The story of Glacier National Park begins in a desire for preservation and ends in a display of peace. From the evidence that scientists have been able to gather so far, it’s believed that humans have been present in the area that is now Glacier National Park for more than 10,000 years.
Conservation
In the environmental world, it’s sometimes characterized as the classic debate: should wild areas be preserved for their intrinsic qualities, or should they be conserved for their resources?
Travel Tales
If I asked you to name your favorite National Park Service (NPS) places, you’d probably immediately mention parks such as Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park and Glacier National Park.
Videos
Fireflies (also known as “lightning bugs” in some parts of the country) were one of the bonuses I got when, several years ago, I traded my house in the city for a more rurally located home with a large, wraparound porch.
News & More
In quiet places, we yearn for absolution. But peace swiftly flees. It’s not surprising that 99.2 percent of us want our national parks and monuments to continue to stand—or even grow—in their current sizes and statuses. Attendance records show that this year, we love visiting them more than ever.
