National Parks Traveler is the world's top-rated, editorially independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas on a daily basis. Traveler offers readers and listeners a unique multimedia blend of news, feature content, debate, and discussion all tied to national parks and protected areas.
National Parks Traveler Podcast
This week we have a wide-ranging discussion about visiting the parks with Jason Epperson from the America’s National Parks podcast and David and Kay Scott, authors of The Complete Guide To the National Park Lodges. We preview upcoming podcasts on the missions of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and recap our series on the Colorado River and its impacts on Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
National Parks Traveler Episode 54: Colorado River Economics, Rebranding Bandelier National Monument
In recent years there has been a movement of sorts to rebrand units of the National Park System as “national parks,” a movement motivated in large part by the economic boost such a redesignation is hoped to have. But in New Mexico a group is opposed to turning Bandelier National Monument into Bandelier National Park. We discuss that issue with Tom Ribe, executive director of Caldera Action. But first, we continue our series on how the health of the Colorado River impacts Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. To get a better understanding of the river economics in play, we reached out to Megan Lawson, an economist with Headwaters Economics. And for bonus content, an audio version of RVing The Parks | Choose Your National Park RV Carefully.
This week’s show kicks off National Parks Traveler's coverage of the Colorado River and how its health, or lack of health, impacts Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. We also take a peek at Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota to see what awaits intrepid park travelers who put it on their to-do list.
Bonus coverage: Paddling The Border Route In The Boundary Waters
Candy Harrington, a journalist who traveled the National Park System to see how accessible lodges and trails in the parks really are, discusses her new book on accessibility in the parks. And Cory MacNulty and Erika Pollard from the National Parks Conservation Association’s Southwest Regional Office discuss the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s plans for managing the greatly reduced in size Bears Ears and Grand Staircase monuments, and the roughly 2 million acres that were pulled out of the monuments so they could be opened to mining, grazing, and other resource-impacting activities.
In this week’s show, we sat down with Emily Hoff and Maygen Keller to discuss their upcoming book, Scenic Science of the National Parks, an Explorer's Guide to Wildlife, Geology, and Botany. The book, scheduled to be available March 31, is a wonderfully new guidebook to help you get the most out of your national park adventures. We also talk with Tanya Shenk, a National Park Service scientist who helped develop a draft framework for bison stewardship in the Midwest Region of the park system. It’s a region where you can find bison at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas, Badlands National Park and Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.
This week’s show is our 50th, a number that looked so distant a year ago. Today we talk with Dr. Mark Loewen, a paleontological research associate at the Natural History Museum of Utah, and associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah, about a Jurassic Period carnivore dubbed "AJ," a new species of allosaurus, found in Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. Lisa Dittman, chief of interpretation at Saratoga National Historical Park in New York, provides us with a short Revolutionary War history tour of the park. It was on that landscape in 1777 that the British army suffered its very first defeat on the battlefield.
John Freemuth, who holds the Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Chair for Environment and Public Lands at Boise State University, and Nada Culver, the vice president for public lands and senior policy counsel at the National Audubon Society, discuss efforts in Washington to tweak the National Environmental Policy Act as well as the Endangered Species Act.
Jon Jarvis took a detour from the typical retirement path after his National Park Service career, which he wrapped up with eight years as director of that agency. Instead of traveling for enjoyment and relaxation, he's working to help guide the Park Service's approach to climate change from outside the agency. He discusses the Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity that he launched at the University of California-Berkeley and its mission with National Parks Traveler.
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The Essential RVing Guide
The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.
This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.
You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.
So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.
