National Park After Dark

In November of 2024, 65 year-old Valdas Bieliauskas was on a rafting trip with a group of friends in the wilds of Tasmania when he did something we all have - he stumbled. But that trip landed him in an impossible situation. With his leg pinned between boulders in fast moving cold water, options were running out. A decision had to be made - a limb or his life. For a full list of our sources, visit...

In honor of National Native American Heritage Month, we venture into Badlands National Park, where a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation left two FBI agents and an activist dead. Leonard Peltier, convicted on questionable evidence and finally released after 49 years, insists his only crime was “being an Indian.” This is a story of defiance, injustice, and the complex fight for Native lands...

Today’s stories include rites of passage, veiled threats, small town legends, and mysterious melodies. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider an...

In June of 1877, 800 people were faced with an impossible choice - leave their home or be forcibly removed from it. What resulted was a 126 day 1,500 mile journey across four states by a band of Nez Perce who were attempting to escape forced relocation. They were relentlessly and violently pursued by the U.S. Army, eluding and fighting them for months through mountain ranges and within Yellowstone...

Truman Everts, a 54-year-old bureaucrat, joined the 1870 Washburn Expedition to explore Yellowstone. After becoming separated from the group, he lost his horse, food, gun, and blankets. Alone for 37 days, he endured brutal storms, frostbite, a scalded hip, and even a mountain lion. His dramatic survival captivated the nation and helped inspire the creation of Yellowstone as America’s first nationa...

Today’s stories include wilderness tripping, formative moments, interrupting crimes and protective spirits. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @nationalparkafterdarkTikTok:...

Topping every “America’s Most Haunted” list sits The Winchester Mystery House. It’s story has been told time and time again, but do we really know the truth of the woman behind its facade, and have we treated her legacy fairly? In today’s episode, we discuss the forgotten Winchester. For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel deta...

We have a special Halloween episode for you this month to celebrate spooky season. We’ve decided to release what would have been a subscribers only episode :) This week we are joined by Patricia, better known as Patches, the creator of The Morbidly Curious Book Club. What began in 2021 as a small online space for readers to share dark and fascinating nonfiction has grown into a worldwide community...

Do you believe in goblins and fairies? Do you believe in their the magic? Well, the Fairy Minister Reverend Robert Kirk did. In 1691 he published "The Secret Commonwealth of Elves and Fairies", a book that described their habits, appearance, and secrets in detail. The following year, Reverend Kirk was found dead on Doon Hill, the alleged entrance to the realm of the fairies. Coincidence? You decid...

Today’s stories include haunted government housing, mystery hair, almost animal attacks, breaking the (leash) law, family trauma bonding and bad shipwreck vibes. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and ou...

Graveyards are often portrayed as eerie, haunted places. Today, they’re depicted as places of fear and sorrow, where the living rarely go. But historically, cemeteries were central to community life. Far from being hidden or feared, they were embraced as spaces for reflection, creativity, and leisure. They allowed for open religious expression, inspired art and literature, and helped shape landsca...

Carved into the granite heart of the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore is one of America’s most recognizable (and controversial) monuments. Beneath the towering faces of four presidents lies a dark and often untold history of stolen land, massacres, and the erasure of Indigenous people who have called this place sacred for generations. From sculptor Gutzon Borglum’s troubling past to the Lakota’s ongoin...

Today’s stories include traumatizing rites of passage, calls for help, wedding dress ghosts, missing friends and anonymous letters. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @natio...

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, today’s episode is dedicated to George Meléndez Wright, the first Hispanic person to occupy a professional role in the National Park Service. His life was cut tragically short, but his holistic approach to wildlife management in the National Parks has left an indelible mark. To submit a business for the Outsiders Gift Guide, please email assistant@npadpod...

When a small Cessna went down in the San Gabriel Mountains in February 1979, eleven-year-old Norman Ollestad was thrust into a fight for his life. Stranded in a blizzard on alpine terrain more than 8,500 feet up, he drew on the skills and grit he’d learned from his father to make his way out. For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel de...

Today’s stories include being locked in taxidermy museums, meeting legends, lightning escapes, ghostly hikes and trolling blue butterflies. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @nationalparkafterdarkSupport...

When Jefferey Lendrum was a boy, he loved birds. What began as a childhood passion volunteering for an ornithology program transformed into a life of wildlife crime - scaling cliffs to steal and then smuggle falcon eggs around the world. Despite multiple arrests, steep fines and various investigations - he just couldn’t quit. What motivated him? How did his dedication to birds turn to destruction?...

Crime doesn’t take a day off. And neither does Crime House Daily. Hosted by self-defense instructor and advocate for victims, Katie Ring, Crime House Daily iscoming to you twice every weekday, covering the biggest crime stories as they unfold. Morning episodes give you the need-to-know. The latest headlines, breaking developments, and where things are going next. Evening episodes go deeper. Into t...

In today’s long awaited collaboration, we team up with Kaelyn Moore of the podcast Heart Starts Pounding. Kaelyn covers all sorts of creepy, strange and unexplainable topics from around the world on her show, but today we all dive into the Reddit world (which is scary in and of itself) to bring you some tales of scary and strange happenings from where we know best ... the forest. For the latest NP...

In 1925 famed British explorer Percy Fawcett set out on his most ambitious journey yet — to find a legendary city hidden deep in the Amazon. At his side were his 21-year-old son Jack and Jack’s best friend, Raleigh Rimell. All three vanished without a trace. What began as a quest for discovery became one of the most enduring mysteries in the history of exploration. For a full list of our sources,...

Today’s stories include lightning drama, peeing with friends, and choosing the bear. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! Listen to Watch Her Cook on Apple and Spotify! Follow us on InstagramFor a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our social...

Today marks the NPS’s 109th birthday! In celebration (?) we pulled a few less than enthusiastic 1 star reviews of some of our favorite places. A few are straight up silly, some are maddening and others prove that just because National Parks are for everyone, not everyone are for National Parks. All reviews found on YelpFor a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the la...

On May 8th, 2006 to celebrate her 34th birthday, Tomomi Hanamure laced up her hiking boots, as she had done so many times before, for an adventure. Her return journey to the Grand Canyon was a way to mark another year around the sun, to a place she felt so personally drawn to. Tragically, the date that marked her entrance into this world would also be the day someone violently ripped her out of it...

Today’s stories include traumatizing children, urns in odd places and a day of the grizzlies. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! Listen to Watch Her Cook on Apple and Spotify! Follow us on InstagramFor a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and o...

She’s been called the wildest woman in America—and with good reason. Carol Ruckdeschel has wrestled alligators, dissected roadkill in the name of science, and lived off the grid in the wilderness she vowed to defend. But behind the sensational headlines is a sharp, fearless conservationist whose tireless efforts helped protect one of the last truly wild places in the Southeast: Cumberland Island N...