Author's posts
Sep 14 2024
The Bristlecone Pines of Great Basin National Park
High on the cold, rocky slopes of Great Basin National Park grow some of the oldest individual trees on Earth. Great Basin bristlecone pines have survived for thousands of years in places where winter storms are fierce, soils are poor, moisture is scarce, and the growing season may last only a few weeks. Instead of …
Sep 14 2024
The Great Basin National Park Glacier
Hidden beneath the towering cliffs of Wheeler Peak is one of the most unexpected natural features in Nevada: the last surviving glacier in the state. Known as the Wheeler Cirque Glacier or Wheeler Peak Glacier, this small remnant of a much colder era survives at roughly 11,500 feet in Great Basin National Park, protected within …
Sep 14 2024
Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park
Beneath the mountains and sagebrush of eastern Nevada lies a world that feels completely removed from the landscape above. Lehman Caves, one of the signature attractions of Great Basin National Park, contains intricate stalactites, stalagmites, columns, draperies, flowstone, helictites, cave popcorn, and hundreds of unusual formations known as cave shields. The cave system extends for …
Sep 14 2024
The Best Hikes in Grand Canyon National Park
Hiking is the best way to understand just how enormous Grand Canyon National Park really is. From the rim, the canyon can look almost like a vast painted landscape, but descending even a short distance reveals layer after layer of cliffs, ridges, side canyons, desert vegetation, and changing rock formations that cannot be appreciated from …
Sep 14 2024
Grand Canyon National Park’s Phantom Ranch
At the bottom of Grand Canyon National Park, almost a vertical mile beneath the South Rim, a cluster of rustic stone-and-wood buildings sits beneath cottonwood trees beside Bright Angel Creek. This is Phantom Ranch, one of the most unusual lodges in the National Park System and one of the few places in America where simply …
Sep 14 2024
Grand Canyon North Rim: Best Viewpoints, Hikes & Visitor Guide
The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park offers a quieter, cooler, and more remote way to experience one of America’s most famous landscapes. Forests of ponderosa pine, aspen, spruce, and fir extend almost to the canyon edge, scenic roads lead to viewpoints thousands of feet above the Colorado River, and far fewer visitors make …
Sep 14 2024
15 Interesting Facts About Gateway Arch National Park
Gateway Arch National Park may be one of the smallest national parks in the United States, but it contains an extraordinary amount of American history within its compact St. Louis riverfront setting. Its centerpiece is instantly recognizable: a gleaming stainless-steel arch rising high above the Mississippi River and downtown skyline. Yet there is far more …
Sep 14 2024
Gateway Arch National Park Animals
Gateway Arch National Park is better known for stainless steel, American history, and the St. Louis skyline than for wildlife. Yet the landscaped grounds surrounding the Gateway Arch support a surprisingly varied community of animals, including squirrels, eastern cottontail rabbits, coyotes, raccoons, Virginia opossums, bats, peregrine falcons, migratory warblers, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, and dozens of …
Sep 13 2024
The Unique Biome of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve protects one of the largest and least-developed landscapes in the United States, a place where the boreal forests of interior Alaska gradually give way to shrub tundra, alpine vegetation, wetlands, wild rivers, and the open Arctic landscapes north of the Brooks Range. Calling Gates of the Arctic …
Sep 12 2024
Shark Valley in Everglades National Park: Tram Tours, Wildlife & Visitor Guide
Shark Valley is one of the easiest places in Everglades National Park to experience the famous “River of Grass” without a boat, strenuous hike, or long drive deep into South Florida. Located along the Tamiami Trail west of Miami, this popular section of the park gives visitors access to a 15-mile paved loop through freshwater …
