Author's posts
Jun 09 2024
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Cuyahoga Valley National Park protects a surprisingly wild corridor of forests, waterfalls, wetlands, sandstone ledges, historic farms, canal ruins, and river habitat between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. Unlike national parks created around a single monumental landscape, Cuyahoga Valley is woven directly into one of the most populated regions of the Midwest. Neighborhoods, highways, farms, rail …
Jun 07 2024
Congaree National Park
Congaree National Park protects the largest intact expanse of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States. Just southeast of Columbia, South Carolina, this remarkable landscape contains towering loblolly pines, enormous bald cypress and tupelo trees, slow-moving blackwater creeks, oxbow lakes, sloughs, wetlands, upland pine forest, and more than 20,000 acres of federally …
May 25 2024
The Best Short Hikes in Glacier National Park under 5 Miles
Glacier National Park may be famous for challenging backcountry routes and all-day mountain adventures, but you do not have to hike ten or fifteen miles to experience its waterfalls, alpine meadows, wildlife, forests, and dramatic mountain scenery. Some of the park’s most memorable places can be reached on hikes measuring less than five miles. Short …
Jan 30 2024
Birds of Yosemite National Park: Species, Birdwatching & Where to See Them
Yosemite National Park is best known for granite walls, giant sequoias, waterfalls, and sweeping Sierra Nevada scenery, but it is also an exceptional place for birdwatching. From peregrine falcons circling the cliffs of Yosemite Valley to western tanagers flashing through summer forests, birds occupy nearly every major habitat in the park. The diversity comes largely …
Jan 27 2024
Petrified Forest National Park
Petrified Forest National Park is one of the most unusual landscapes in the American Southwest. Spread across the high plains of northeastern Arizona, the park protects vast deposits of brilliantly colored petrified wood, striped badlands, sweeping grasslands, ancient petroglyphs, historic buildings, fossils, and a surviving piece of Route 66. The name can be slightly misleading …
Jan 27 2024
Manu National Park
Manu National Park is one of the most biologically extraordinary protected areas on Earth. Stretching from the high Andes into the lowland Amazon of southeastern Peru, the park encompasses cloud forests, mountain grasslands, river valleys, wetlands, and vast expanses of tropical rainforest. Few protected areas contain such a dramatic range of elevations and habitats within …
Jan 04 2024
Kosciuszko National Park
Kosciuszko National Park protects the highest mountains in Australia, sweeping alpine grasslands, glacial lakes, snow gum forests, limestone caves, rivers, historic mountain huts, and some of the country’s rarest wildlife. Covering about 690,000 hectares in southeastern New South Wales, it is the largest national park in the state and the centerpiece of Australia’s Snowy Mountains. …
Jan 02 2024
General Sherman Tree: The World’s Largest Tree by Volume
The General Sherman Tree is not the tallest tree on Earth, nor is it the widest. Its claim to fame is even more remarkable: General Sherman is the largest known living single-stem tree in the world when measured by trunk volume. Standing in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park, General Sherman rises nearly 275 …
Oct 18 2023
Old Faithful Geyser: Eruption Times, Facts & Visitor Guide
Old Faithful is the most famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park and one of the best-known natural landmarks in the United States. For more than a century, visitors have gathered around its steaming cone to watch superheated water surge into the air above Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin. Its fame comes partly from spectacle and partly …
Jul 04 2023
National Park Packing List: Essential Gear & Checklist for Every Trip
Packing for a national park trip is different from packing for an ordinary vacation. You may spend the morning driving between overlooks, the afternoon hiking several miles from the nearest road, and the evening dealing with a sudden thunderstorm, falling temperatures, strong wind, or an unexpectedly long drive back to your lodging. The right packing …
