National Parks Traveler

24/07/2025

America’s national parks have lost several park lodges during our 55 years of travel.

24/07/2025

As the peak of hurricane season crawls closer, several national parks across the Southeast are still recovering from previous storms – and hoping this year gives them a break.

24/07/2025

Water levels in Lake Powell are 29 feet lower than at this same time last year and are expected to continue to drop.

24/07/2025

Dry, windy weather continued Thursday to vex firefighters on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, where the Dragon Bravo fire that destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge grew by more than 6,000 acres in the past 24 hours.

24/07/2025

It's Travelers! Now, while the photo here of etchings in the rock known as petroglyphs, seen along the Rinconada Canyon Trail at Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico, is not a throwback photo, it *does* represent the Native Peoples and Spanish explorers who traveled through this place some 400-700 years ago and maybe even as far back as 3,000 years ago!

What do these petroglyph images represent? Many things. Some are believed to hold spiritual significance, potentially depicting deities, spirits, or marking sacred sites. Some petroglyphs may be clan markers, others may tell a story, and other etchings may be directional. And when the Spanish settlers came through, they added their own rock etchings which included crosses and brands.

Rebecca Latson photo.

24/07/2025

A wolf found dead in Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this year apparently was killed by a mountain lion.

A gray wolf found dead in Rocky Mountain National Park in April died from injuries attributed to a mountain lion.

23/07/2025

You always hear about the “park experience” when visiting a unit of the National Park System. How good that experience is depends upon a number of factors, particularly if you are planning a trip to visit Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State.

23/07/2025

Invasive quagga mussels were recently found on a boat entering Grand Teton National Park.

23/07/2025

It's Travelers!

Not all wildlife is large, and invetebrates like this red velve mite are part of the wildlife at Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico.

Red velvet mites are predators, feeding on small insects, their eggs, and even other mites. They do not bite or sting humans and are considered beneficial to gardens and ecosystems by preying on pest insects. These bright, pretty little things are tiny, typically no more than 4 millimeters (0.16 inch) in length

According to Park Staff:

Red velvet mites are arachnids but not spiders; if found in sandy desert areas they belong to the genus Dinothrombium, if found in organic soils they belong to the genus Thrombium. There are thousands of different velvet mite species. They are usually spotted after the rain, which has earned these little creatures another common name, "rain bug."

NPS photo

22/07/2025

Should the National Park Service be discussing climate-change impacts or the fact that George Washington enslaved more than 100 fellow humans?

22/07/2025

Save Our Signs is collecting photos of interpretive signs and displays in national parks to preserve a record in case they disappear.

22/07/2025

If you have never visited White Sands National Park in New Mexico, you may initially assume there is nothing but white gypsum sand dunes to photograph. It might come as a bit of a surprise to see so much greenery growing atop the sand when you first enter the park. Oh, you will see those sparkling,....