National Parks Traveler Podcast

National parks offer some of the best birding in the country. From Acadia National Park to Big Bend National Park and over to Haleakalā National Park, you could spend days looking overhead for a species to add to your life list. But as rich as national parks are in bird life, that's not to say it's business as usual in the birding world. At Acadia National Park, dramatic changes have been noted in...

When unprecedented flooding roars through a national park, shredding major roads that access that park, it rightfully could be pointed to as the top story in the National Park System. And while Yellowstone National Park was that park, not only the flooding, but the lack of human casualties, and rapid recovery rank that story as arguably the top one in the National Park System in 2022. But that was...

We're just about to close the books on 2022 and what a year in the National Park System it has been. We've seen catastrophic flooding, drought, and crowds, lots of crowds. Today though, we're going to focus on some of the positives about being out and about in the parks. We've asked contributing editors Lynn Riddick and Kim O'Connell to join us today to point to their favorite adventures and stori...

Andrew Revkin, noted journalist, author, and educator, has been reporting on climate change for the better part of 35 years. In a conversation with the Traveler's Lynn Riddick, he shares stories of his experiences, and how he is adapting his work to foster conversations rather than the traditional form of interrogative storytelling. He regards today's communication climate as an inseparable part o...

It's been quite a year in the National Park System when the subject turns to unexpected bills. There was the historic flooding that hit Yellowstone National Park in June, monsoonal flooding that struck Death Valley National Park and Mojave National Preserve later this past summer, and even flooding at Vicksburg National Military Park that caused significant damage.   It's well known that the Natio...

Across the National Park System, national parks fortunate enough to have friends groups helping them out have been leaning a little bit harder on those non-profit organizations than in the past. In some cases a lot harder as federal funding has not kept up with the increase in park units, or the costs of maintaining and operating those parks.   It seems the National Park Service can never get ahea...

National Parks Traveler correspondent Jennifer Bain visits Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southwestern Arizona. Jessica Pope, the park's interpretation, education and community engagement programs manager, gives Bain a tour of Quitobaquito Springs, a lush oasis in the middle of the Arizona desert.

Freeze-dried meals long have been the go-to food source for many backcountry travelers, but only because they didn't know other options existed for meal time. And not everyone easily stomachs those meals. To explore the possibilities of home-made dehydrated meals, we are joined by Chef Glenn McAllister, who decided that a 315-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail would be a great shakedown trek for e...

There are places in the National Park System that take your breath away. Places such as Glacier National Park, along the shoreline of Avalanche Lake, or atop Logan Pass staring down valley along with the mountain goats. If you've been here, you'll never forget the experience. Husband-wife duo Laurie Raveis & Dennis Kole capture their experiences in "Glacier" in their upcoming 2023 album "In the Mo...

This year has been a year of firsts for the National Parks Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek. First-time visits to units of the National Park System, that is. This year Repanshek has taken road trips through Nebraska, Kansas, and New Mexico to explore overlooked gems of the park system. To discuss these and other must-see sites with us today are Rebecca Latson, Traveler's contributing photographer, a...

As winter approaches, the slow season is setting in across the National Park System, which makes it a good time to take measure of some issues that are confronting both the parks and the National Park Service. We've invited Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, and Mike Murray, the chair of the Coalition to Protect America's N...

As hot, arid, and dusty as Death Valley National Park is, it might come as a surprise to learn that it has a very important fishery of sorts. There is a place in the national park where there is a warm spring that is home to a rare and endangered fish - the Devils Hole Pupfish. Each year the population of pupfish can swing wildly between highs and lows. Recently, researchers completed their biannu...

National Parks Traveler Founder Kurt Repanshek and contributing editors Kim O'Connell and Lynn Riddick discuss the Traveler's role in reporting on national parks and how reader and listener support make that role possible.

Back in 2009, a small herd of bison was relocated from  Wind Cave National Park  in South Dakota to  Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve  in Kansas. The goal was not only to restore an essential foundational species of wildlife that had not grazed on those lands for more than a century, but to also reestablish the unique ecological benefits bison bring to the landscape while preserving the genetic...

Terry Karlsen is Parks Canada's only shipwright. And his latest challenge is a big one: Restoring the S.S. Klondike, a vintage steam-powered paddlewheeler. The work is underway at the S.S. Klondike National Historic Site in Whitehorse, Yukon.

If you've spent time in the National Park System, you've seen a mix of conditions in terms of a park's infrastructure. Some are in great condition, some not so great. Recently my wife and I had the opportunity to stop by Grand Teton National Park and the Jenny Lake area. The trails that lead around the lake and up onto the flanks of the Tetons are in wonderful condition. But it wasn't always so. W...

A sea kayaking paddle on Yellowstone Lake in  Yellowstone National Park  just might be the perfect way to end summer if you like paddling. It's also a great way to gain another perspective of the park, and the National Park System.

Our climate is changing, and not subtly. And it's having a great and visible impact on the National Park System. We saw flooding and fires at units of the National Park Systems this year, as well as an ongoing historic drought thought to be the worst in 1,200 years. Are those events the result of human-driven climate change, or simply the vagaries of weather? Today we're going to explore that ques...

Everglades National Park was somewhat of an anomaly when it was authorized in Congress back in 1934. It marked the first time that federal land was set aside for its abundance of plant and animal species, rather than for its breathtaking scenic views. Today, Everglades National Park continues to face threats that make it the only US world heritage site officially considered to be under threat from...

Today we're going to delve into some of New York's Revolutionary War history with an audio trip to Saratoga National Historical Park. The Traveler's Lynn Riddick caught up park ranger and military historian Eric Schnitzer, who explains what happened there and why it's significant.

Fall is here. Snow has fallen in the Rockies, the days are getting shorter, and some animals are realizing that winter isn't that far away.  With the change of seasons underway, you should mark your calendar for the most unusual competition in the National Park System and get started on your bracket. Not your NCAA basketball tournament bracket, but your fat bear bracket. The week of October 5-11 a...

One of the most amazing settings in the National Park System are glacial landscapes. From  Glacier National Park  in Montana and  Mount Rainier National Park  in Washington state to Alaska, these rivers of ice are captivating to see and, if you're lucky enough, to walk upon or watch as they calve blocks of ice into Pacific waters. But as amazing as these rivers of ice are, they are vanishing under...

The Biden administration's desire to preserve at least 30 percent of the country's lands and waters for nature by 2030 has heightened the public's interest in nature, and spurred countless conversations into not only how that goal can be achieved, but about the benefits that it will generate. Professor William Ripple from Oregon State University, Michael Phillips from the Turner Endangered Species...

It's been said time and again, the National Park Service is not adequately funded. There's just not enough money in the agency's annual budgets to address all the needs across the National Park System. And those needs are many, from maintaining facilities, keeping wastewater treatment plans operating smoothly, managing wildlife, and tending to ever growing throngs of visitors. That's where friends...

As the inscription on the Roosevelt Arch at the north entrance into Yellowstone National Park reminds us, the national parks are for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. They are wild, scenic, and historic spaces that belong to all of us. But are they in reality exclusive places with reservation systems that aren't providing equitable access to the diverse population wishing to use parks?    O...