Travel Tips
We agree with Wallace Stegner: Our national parks are “America’s Best Idea.” These natural sanctuaries call our name when the concrete jungle becomes too oppressive, when we long to take deep, cleansing breaths in fresh air while marveling at the quiet, unassuming wildlife that was here long before we were.
News & More
Music has been described as “the art of sound.” It’s a way to express beliefs, histories and values. It has shaped cultures and societies around the world for generations, used in religious ceremonies, to mark life events or to pass down stories.
Travel Tips
On its finest days, summer feels like it could last forever. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. Or, when it comes to the seasons, sublimely shift into something new. As F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said, “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”
Conservation
The summer that I worked in Montana’s Glacier National Park was one of the best experiences of my life. For three months, I lived within the park’s Many Glacier Valley, waiting tables at its hotel restaurant and hiking among its towering peaks and turquoise waters any chance I could get.
Conservation
Scenes of devastation from wildfires have almost become a staple of summer in the past decade. In addition to the physical destruction they cause, wildfires release carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the air that contribute to climate change.
Nature & Wildlife
When naturalist and conservationist John Muir first happened upon California’s Yosemite Valley in 1868, it was love at first sight. He was taken with its sheer granite rocks, gushing waterfalls and stunning natural beauty, and he also saw the importance of preserving it for future generations. Luckily, the state’s government felt the same way.
Travel Tips
Does anything shout springtime more than a field of cheerful, colorful wildflowers? While we often give the natural scenery and the wildlife top billing when it comes to visiting our national parks, these fleeting flowers deserve their own recognition.
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.
Travel Tips
So many travelers dream of Yosemite, with its towering waterfalls, the world’s biggest slab of exposed granite, idyllic flower-filled meadows and vast forests with some of the largest trees in North America.
Nature & Wildlife
Yosemite National Park is California’s crown jewel, a rich landscape of imposing granite cathedrals, towering sequoias and majestic waterfalls. Waterfalls and Lakes Hiking opportunities are limitless at Yosemite. Nat Hab travelers will have many chances to explore intimate corners of the park on foot, away from the crowds and roads.
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.
