National Parks Traveler Podcast

Why visit Cumberland Gap National Historical Park? The gap was the portal to the heart of the country, as Daniel Boone discovered in the 1700s. And it's the one unit of the National Park System where you can take turns standing in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. Lynn Riddick gives you a brief preview of the historical park with this audio postcard.

We're in the middle of a world-wide extinction crisis. Here in the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just announced that nearly two dozen species, from the Ivory-billed woodpecker to two freshwater fish species, are extinct. How are wildlife in the parks doing? To explore that and other questions surrounding wildlife, we're joined by Dr. Joel Berger, a senior scientist with the Wil...

Key to the survival of many threatened and endangered species is the designation of wildlife corridors. The Traveler's Lynn Riddick talks to Tori Linder of the Path of the Panther Project about efforts to formalize the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a large and growing mosaic of protected forests and timberlands, swamps, pastures, and orchards that provide the green spaces that animals need to thrive.

Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado year-in and year-out is one of the most popular units of the National Park System. Its rugged peaks attract climbers, its heavily forested backcountry lures hikers and backpackers, and its wildlife attracts photographers and visitors hoping to glimpse elk, or catch their unique bugling, or spot bighorn sheep. As popular as Rocky Mountain National Park is, i...

NPT Ep 136 Spot List - Run Time - 48:00 :02 National Parks Traveler introduction :12 Episode introduction with Kurt Repanshek 1:05 Parks Book Reviews 23:14 The Offering - Bill Mize - The Sounds of the Great Smoky Mountains 23:33 WNPA 23:54 Yosemite Conservancy 24:17 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation 24:38 Potrero Group 25:06 North Cascades Institute 25:24 Nova Scotia 25:56 Parks Book Reviews Continue...

Have you ever visited the "other" side of Yellowstone? Left the Old Faithful and Steamboat geysers behind, fled the conga lines of vehicles mired in bison and bear jams in the Hayden and Lamar valleys, the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds on the boardwalks ... and opted, instead, for the wild side, where you and nature can become one...if you are willing? For a few minutes Kurt Repanshek takes you to Y...

The National Park System contains more than parks that preserve incredible landscapes or moments in history. There are many units that honor an individual. Today  National Parks Traveler  takes a look at a national monument in southwest Missouri dedicated to George Washington Carver.  Born to an enslaved young woman, Carver dedicated his life to agricultural research and science.  His work helped...

Acadia National Park in Maine is a tourist magnet, a problem for those seeking a little solitude with the scenery at the park. Traveler Contributing Editor Kim O'Connell found that out first-hand during her family's visit there this summer, but did manage to find some quiet areas.

Climate change is readily apparent this year, generating surprising heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, scores of wildfires across the West, and an ongoing series of tropical storms and hurricanes spinning out of the Atlantic and barreling into the East and Gulf coasts of the United States. The effects of climate change aren't absent from Yosemite National Park. To discuss some of those impacts,...

Across the National Park System some 2 million acres have been invaded by non-native vegetation. At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah, crews physically cut down Russian olive trees and use Roundup to prevent regrowth of this invader.

2020 saw the largest fires on record burn in Rocky Mountain National Park, and this year Lassen Volcanic National Park has endured the flames of the Dixie Fire. To gain a better understanding of the wildfire situation in the West, and how climate change is affecting wildfires, we're joined by Robin Wills, the National Park Service's chief of fire and aviation for the Pacific West Region.

A lot is happening around the National Park System, from the nomination of a permanent director for the National Park Service and higher user fees in the parks to wildfires and ongoing crowds in some corners of the park system.  National Parks Traveler's  Kurt Repanshek, Kim O'Connell, and Lynn Riddick discuss those and other issues from around the park system.

The ongoing drought in the West has underscored how precious water is in that arid landscape. Photographer Colleen Miniuk explores the dilemma along the rivers that feed the Colorado watershed in a new book that is both a celebration and warning about water in the West.

How is the restoration of "the river of grass," the Everglades, coming along? Eric Eikenberg, president of The Everglades Foundation, discusses that topic on National Parks Traveler's podcast.

Mammoth Cave National Park is a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. It was designated a national park in 1926 and fully established and opened in 1941 -- 80 years ago. At 412 miles, the cave itself is nearly twice as long as any other known cave system. Geologists believe there may even be a couple more hundred miles of undiscovered passageways.  The  Traveler's Lynn Riddick t...

What has been your experience in the National Park System this year? Have you found lots of crowds, or has your experience been more enjoyable because you haven't encountered scores of other visitors milling about? Today we're discussing crowding in the parks with Kristen Brengel of the National Parks Conservation Association and Phil Francis of the Coalition to Protect America's national Parks. W...

One of the newest additions to the National Park System is the World War I Memorial in the District of Columbia. Traveler's Kurt Repanshek and Contributing Editor Kim O'Connell offer this short audio postcard from the site.

Through the efforts of the #SaveLACougars campaign, tens of millions of dollars have been raised so far to build the world's largest wildlife corridor over the 101 Freeway in Liberty Canyon, west of Los Angeles. Such a bridge would help protect mountain lions roaming the Santa Monica Mountains.

In this, the first segment of a two-part series, the Traveler's Lynn Riddick talks with Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation to dig deep into the life of a mountain lion and find out why fragmented habitats are so destructive to their survival. They'll also discuss the immense outpouring of support for urban wildlife conservation efforts in general and this corridor project in particular...

To celebrate Independence Day and our hard-fought freedoms, National Parks Traveler's Lynn Riddick takes on us a visit to Fort McHenry National Monument and Shrine to learn more about its history and the story behind the poem that was inspired by the Battle of Baltimore.

When traveling to a national park, not everything goes as planned.  Maybe you've been disappointed about the crowds.  Or maybe couldn't find lodging.  Or maybe you weren't able to squeeze in everything you wanted to do.  But have you ever found yourself complaining about scenery that you determined to be substandard…or dismissing the exact feature for which the park is known?  Today the  Traveler'...

How can aspiring scientists and researchers get a hand in conducting research in the National Park System? Ryan and Julie Sharp, who both spent time working for the National Park Service, raise funds to help college students hoping to conduct research in the parks. Ryan, a professor at Kansas State University, also discusses understanding visitor behavior in parks.

Climate change is here and greatly impacting our weather and long-term climatic trends. In the Southwest, it's having a tremendous impact on water resources across the Colorado River watershed. Warming temperatures associated with climate change are affecting the Colorado River, and those impacts also are showing up in national parks along the river's path. In this episode, we look at how the aili...

Go take a hike. Wouldn't that be a great escape this weekend? Some of my most enjoyable hikes have been along the Appalachian Trail. That path was easy to reach when I was growing up in New Jersey. Now based in Utah, the A.T. is a distant aspiration. Much closer are both the Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. This is Kurt Repanshek, your host at National Parks Traveler. All thre...

The National Park Service could be seen as one of the country's most science-focused agencies, as it deals with all sorts of "ologies" – biology, paleontology, archaeology, sociology, ecology, cetology, bioecology, and, in light of the popularity of dark night skies, even planetology. But is science properly guiding its mission? Former Park Service scientists Michael Soukup and Gary Machlis discus...