National Parks Traveler

Firefighters Monday were battling a wildfire that started outside of Everglades National Park but quickly entered the park and grew to roughly 1,400 acres. The fire was spotted Sunday afternoon about 5 miles south of U.S. 41 in the northeast corner of the park. Everglades Fire Management along with Florida Forest Service and Miami Dade Fire Rescue were working to contain the fire and reduce smoke impacts.

Four months after a hunter said he was heading home from Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas but never returned, his boat has been recovered and a search continues for his body.

Beaches, trails, and parking areas at Virgin Islands National Park reopened Monday in a partial move to return to normalcy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic as the territorial governor relaxed his closure order.

My home in the Pacific Northwest is from 2 hours to a full day’s drive of several national parks, national monuments, and national recreation areas. Because of the nearness of so many public lands, my 2020 goal is to travel to and photograph at least one or two units I’ve never visited within the National Park System. So, this past March, I packed the car and headed to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in eastern Oregon, where I spent 3 days exploring and photographing the area. This national monument is an absolute treasure trove of plant and mammal fossils ranging from 7 million to 44 million years in age. I can barely wrap my head around 20 years, much less millions of years. John Day Fossil Beds is chock full of amazing geological features and gorgeous scenery perfect for your camera, with plenty of learning opportunities for your brain.

The unexpected loss in 2019 of six young horses drove the mortality rate of horses on Shackleford Banks at Cape Lookout National Seashore to twice its normal average, but overall the herd's population isn't too far off the goal set by the National Park Service and the average mortality rate in the single-digits.

RVing used to be so simple. You plan for a road trip, you pack your rig, and you go. But in our post-pandemic nation, we’ll have an added layer of RV etiquette basics to consider when camping in national parks. Common neighborly courtesies like respecting campsite boundaries and minimizing generator noise are still advisable. But now, all of us will have to go a step further to nurture neighborliness and reap the rewards of life after lockdown. As RV life ambassadors, here’s what we need to preach and practice from arrival to departure.

While we're spending National Park Week trying to enjoy the parks virtually, we also need to spend time pondering the condition of the National Park System and asking what needs to be done to show we really believe the parks are America's Best Idea. Just saying those three words doesn't make it so.

Editor's note: This updates with Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, and Saint Croix Island International Historic Site all closing Friday, and some seasonal openings at Acadia National Park pushed back.

While staff at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado prepared to close the park Friday night, staff at Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts were dealing with garbage and vandalism.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed another national park, with Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota closed to all recreational use. “Closing the park was a difficult decision to make during a time when people are seeking recreation and enjoyment in the outdoors," said Superintendent Wendy Ross. "This action will protect the people who work here, live here, visit here, and cherish this place. We look forward to welcoming the public back to their park as we transition to a new normal in the coming months.”

I recently received my book Scenic Science of the National Parks, by Emily Hoff and Maygen Keller. Not too long ago, the Traveler interviewed these two authors for Podcast #51. I love learning about the things I photograph when exploring national parks, and I was pleased and proud to discover some of my photographs highlight information mentioned in their book. So, for National Parks Quiz and Trivia #6, I thought I’d use material found in Scenic Science of the National Park. Remember, test your national parks knowledge first, before checking the answers at the bottom of the page.

A plan to replace the deteriorating Yellowstone River Bridge in Yellowstone National Park has been approved, but it still needs funding. The Yellowstone River Bridge between Tower Junction and the park's Northeast Entrance is suffering from deterioration on the concrete deck, sidewalks, and parapets.

Four conservation groups want the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to explain why it rescinded a finding that an oil company's exploration work had damaged Big Cypress National Preserve, and that it require the company obtain a permit for any future exploration.

You'll need your imagination, and some virtual presentations, to enjoy National Park Week this year. With many units of the National Park System closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, more than a few park travelers will have to celebrate the week virtually.

Great Basin National Park in Nevada shut down on Wednesday, another park victim of the coronavirus pandemic that the world is battling. Though more than four hours from Las Vegas and roughly three-and-a-half hours from Salt Lake City, the park was closed on the guidance of the White Pine County Office of Public Health.

Steve and Lacy are wanted by rangers at Death Valley National Park. Steve is thought to be a Canadian who has taken to leaving his and his dog's name, Lacy, on rocks and historic structures in the park over the past two years.

While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday that it hasn't found any "clear evidence" of adverse impacts from an oil company's exploratory work in Big Cypress National Preserve, an outside consultant who visited the preserve in March to examine the work has found a number of significant impacts to the landscape that could remain for years if not properly addressed.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan on Tuesday closed its trails, trailheads, picnic areas, parking areas, and boat launches to the public, and also banned beach fires in an expanded effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Previous closures of the visitor center, campgrounds, and restrooms remain in place.

Refreshing the National Park Service's press release website does not increase the frequency of new releases. With a good percentage of the National Park System closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, it's getting more and more difficult to uncover news from across the system. It seems that many of the communications staff are not considered essential to come into the office, and so news is definitely moving slowly these days.

Overnight camping at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin is being banned through June 20 at least in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus. At El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico, more visitor facilities are shutting down.