Author's posts
Sep 07 2024
Congaree National Park Fireflies: Synchronous Firefly Viewing Guide
For a few remarkable nights each spring, the darkness beneath Congaree National Park’s towering forest canopy begins to pulse with light. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of tiny flashes appear close to the forest floor, gradually falling into overlapping rhythms until large portions of the woods seem to blink together. These are the synchronous fireflies of …
Sep 07 2024
The Rare, Wild Island Fox of Channel Islands National Park
Small enough to be mistaken for an unusually large house cat, the island fox is one of the most remarkable animals found in Channel Islands National Park. It trots through coastal scrub, searches campgrounds for opportunities to scavenge, hunts insects and deer mice, eats fruit from native plants, and sometimes wanders casually past hikers as …
Sep 07 2024
The Animals that Call Carlsbad Caverns Home
Carlsbad Caverns National Park may be best known for enormous underground chambers, delicate cave formations, and the seemingly endless darkness beneath the Chihuahuan Desert, but the park is also home to a remarkably diverse collection of animals. Some spend nearly their entire lives above ground among desert grasses, agaves, rocky canyons, and springs. Others use …
Sep 07 2024
Hickman Bridge Trail in Capitol Reef National Park: Hiking Guide & What to Expect
Hickman Bridge Trail is one of the best short hikes in Capitol Reef National Park, combining colorful canyon scenery, views across the Waterpocket Fold, desert vegetation, fascinating geology, and an enormous natural stone bridge in less than two miles round trip. The trail is short enough to fit easily into a one-day visit but substantial …
Sep 07 2024
Capitol Reef Petroglyphs: Fremont Culture Rock Art & Visitor Guide
Along the sandstone cliffs beside Utah Highway 24, just east of the heart of Capitol Reef National Park, human figures, bighorn sheep, geometric shapes, and other mysterious images have survived for centuries. Some are large enough to spot quickly from the boardwalk. Others almost disappear into the dark desert patina until you slow down, study …
Sep 07 2024
Canyonlands National Park Petroglyphs: Rock Art, History & Where to See It
Canyonlands National Park is famous for immense sandstone canyons, needles, mesas, natural arches, and the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers, but some of its most extraordinary features are much smaller and far older in human terms. Across canyon walls and sheltered alcoves, Indigenous people painted and pecked images into the rock, leaving a …
Sep 07 2024
Wildlife of Canyonlands National Park: Bighorn Sheep, Coyotes, Birds & More
At first glance, Canyonlands National Park can look almost empty. Vast sandstone benches stretch beneath intense sunlight, sheer cliffs plunge toward the Colorado and Green rivers, and miles of exposed slickrock appear to offer little water, shade, or vegetation. Yet the apparent emptiness is deceptive. Canyonlands supports a surprisingly rich community of animals that has …
Sep 07 2024
Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park: Sunrise, Trail & Visitor Guide
Mesa Arch is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Canyonlands National Park. Perched directly along the edge of the Island in the Sky mesa, the low sandstone arch frames a vast landscape of cliffs, canyons, towers, and distant mountains. At sunrise, the underside of the arch can glow fiery orange as early light reflects …
Sep 07 2024
Horseshoe Canyon in Canyonlands National Park
Horseshoe Canyon is one of the most extraordinary places in Canyonlands National Park, combining a remote desert hike, towering sandstone walls, cottonwood groves, thousands of years of human history, and some of the most significant rock art in North America. Its centerpiece is the Great Gallery, an extensive panel of Barrier Canyon Style pictographs and …
Sep 07 2024
Shafer Trail in Canyonlands National Park: A Scenic Adventure
Shafer Trail is one of the most dramatic drives in Canyonlands National Park. From the high mesa of Island in the Sky, the unpaved road drops roughly 1,500 feet through a seemingly impossible series of switchbacks carved into the sandstone cliffs of Shafer Canyon. Far below, the road eventually reaches the broad bench of the …
