Features

A snowy November has created a good base throughout Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks for the upcoming winter season, which kicks off on Wednesday.

Andersonville National Historic Site in southwest Georgia preserves the remains of the Civil War's deadliest prisoner of war camp.

We are on our way to Key West, where the weather is more accommodating to those of us past middle age. In truth, Key West is a fun place for people of any age. Warm weather, a fun atmosphere, strange people, wild chickens roaming the streets, and the ghost of Ernest Hemingway looking over your shoulder all make for an enjoyable vacation.

Many long have dreamed of the day that the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park would be drained of its reservoir and allowed to mirror the more-renowned Yosemite Valley. Those dreams are kept alive by the folks behind Restore Hetch Hetchy.

With the holiday season ramping up, more than a few special events are planned across the National Park System. Here's a glance at some of them.

A permit system implemented for hikers heading to the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park does not appear to be improving safety conditions, according to a report that analyzes this past summer's hiking numbers.

This popular park situated in the Cleveland-Akron urban region of northeastern Ohio offers a nice selection of scenic delights and outdoor recreational pursuits.

If you visit Bryce Canyon National Park in winter, and there is snow on the ground and blue sky overhead, the one hike you must take is the Queen's Garden-Navajo Loop Trail.

'Tis is the season for counting birds as the 111th annual Christmas Bird Count rolls out across the country, and more than a few national parks are welcoming you to count birds.

For an overwhelming majority of visitors, national parks offer spectacular vistas that provide surroundings perfect for enjoyment, contemplation, and relaxation. For a small, yet significant, number, though, the parks are where they decide to die.

How do you hoist and move a 25-ton cannon? These days, the answer usually involves a crane or other heavy equipment, but those aren't options at one of the most remote national parks in the country. The staff at Dry Tortugas National Park solved the problem with a combination of old-fashioned technology, ingenuity and teamwork.

The tarantula's fearsome appearance belies the fact that this docile, reclusive creature is nearly harmless.

Not far from the bright lights and card tables of Las Vegas there's a stretch of desert so relished by developers that street names were attached to blueprints of suburbia. Now, though, that landscape and its unique collection of Ice Age fossils is being promoted as the country's next national monument.

If you've never been to the East Entrance of Grand Canyon National Park, you owe yourself the trip. Naturally, the canyon from this South Rim vista is expansive, and there are wonderful views of the Painted Desert, too, but equally alluring is the Desert View Watchtower. This rustic edifice, built in 1932 by architect Mary Colter, sits hunched against the very rim of the canyon, a lonely outpost, built to be a place for contemplation.

The Ahwahnee's 1943-1945 stint as the United States Naval Special Hospital was certainly one of the most interesting episodes in its long and storied history.

Two national monuments, separated by only about 15 miles, provide some great history on 16th, 17th, and 18th century colonization of Florida. Here's the Traveler's checklist to help you plan your visits.

A tool handy for national park visitors, educators, and researchers is blossoming under a collaboration between the National Park Service and a non-profit organization focused on preserving cultural sites, one that showcases the power, depth, and usefulness of the Internet.

The name is forbidding but the history is compelling along the centuries-old route known as the Jornada del Muerto (Journey of the Dead Man). Two new hiking trails and exhibits allow visitors to sample short sections of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail, which extends for 404 miles across parts of Texas and New Mexico.

Most teachers would be happy to keep their students as far away from scorpions as possible. But not Cameron Elementary School teacher Sheryl Marino.

Mike Keller has studied Yellowstone’s thermal features and volcanic underworld since high school, and when he’s not busy directing operations for the park’s concessioner, he spends most of his free time geyser gazing. As the president of the Geyser Observation and Study Association, Mr. Keller possesses both an extreme passion and an extensive knowledge about all things geothermal.