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Exploring the Parks

Exploring The Parks: A North Cascades “Base Camp” Stay

What comes to mind when you hear the words “base camp?” Tents beneath Mount Everest, perhaps? How about something a little closer to home, bordering the incredible turquoise-hued water of Diablo Lake in Ross Lake National Recreation Area, beneath the mountains of the North Cascades? Photographer Rebecca Latson spent a couple of nights at the North Cascades Institute Environmental Learning Center's "Base Camp" and writes about her experience.

Sea Kayaking Destinations In The National Park System

I've long been a paddler, but primarily of canoes and occasionally rafts. While I have a few times gotten into a sea kayak and paddled away from shore, I never fully embraced the sport. Until now. Having placed an order for a sea kayak worthy of big lakes and ocean waters, while awaiting delivery I naturally turned my attention to where in the National Park System this new hobby would fit. And the results were fairly breathtaking in the parkscapes they entailed.

RVing The Parks: Relax And Reap the Rewards Of Your RV Vacation Planning

If you’re wondering how to choose the best national park for your next RV adventure, you’re not alone. We were clueless too when our full-time RVing life began in 2007. But after one giant boulder collision, several tree branch sideswipes, and 12 years traveling, we’ve got national park RV camping logistics down to a science. Here’s your chance to learn from our early blunders with foolproof tips for a flawless getaway.

Exploring Canyonlands The River Way

Whether you’re traveling by car or by jeep, the approaches to Utah’s Canyonlands National Park rank among the most scenic in the West. Following Utah Highway 211 down Indian Creek Canyon into the Needles District, or jouncing along a rugged backcountry route into the park’s western side, you’re witness to geologic processes acting on a vast scale. There’s another entrance to Canyonlands, though, which runs at river level, and this is the one my wife and I like best. This spring Bessann and I steered our canoe down the Green River into the northern end of the park, heading for its confluence with the Colorado River 50 miles downstream. It was a slower approach, one which let us savor the sights and sounds along one of the Southwest’s great desert waterways.

Pipe Spring National Monument: Paiutes, Mormons, And Stephen Mather

Water defines the arid West. Sporadic and intermittent water - think flash floods, freeze/thaw and steady erosion - sculpts the landscape, but it takes permanent water to create conditions for human settlement. At Pipe Spring National Monument in northern Arizona, the Park Service has done an exemplary job of telling the human water story from three perspectives: Paiutes, the original inhabitants; Mormons, a big wave of Anglo settlers that stayed; and the U.S. government.
  • By stratto - May 13th, 2019 1:30am

The Alabama Five-Step: Come Be Surprised

When someone says the word, “Alabama,” what do you imagine? For most, the melody of “Sweet Home Alabama” pops into their head, or scenes from the movie by the same name. For me, most of what I pictured stemmed from the popular television show “Hart of Dixie” about a young doctor moving to the state in search of a mystery father – not exactly based on reality. What I didn’t know until I moved into the next-door Florida Panhandle was that Alabama is an ecologically diverse, beautiful state, stretching from sugar-sand coastline to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

Exploring The Parks: White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument in New Mexico doesn’t have the elevation of Great Sand Dunes – most of the dunes we hiked on were well under 100 feet high – but it is no less of a cool place. Nestled into the Tularosa Basin just east of Las Cruces, New Mexico, this 275 square miles of white gypsum sand is the largest of its kind in the world.
  • By stratto - April 19th, 2019 2:00am

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

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.