Beautiful shorelines, historic lighthouses, Native American archaeological sites, and maritime history held in a chain of islands in Lake Michigan are among the attributes of a proposed national park in Wisconsin. It sounds very similar to an existing unit of the National Park System, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, which could make this effort particularly challenging.

To reduce helicopter noise and impacts to wildlife and visitors, Haleakalā National Park in Hawaii is implementing a new wood locker system for backcountry cabin users. Each of the park’s three cabins will be equipped with 18 lockers and each locker will contain three logs.

In what is sure to be one of the thorniest issues the National Park Service has addressed in recent years, work is getting underway to determine the future of cattle ranching at Point Reyes National Seashore in California. At stake are not only the native Tule elk that roam the landscape but the generations-old livelihood of ranching families, as well as the health of native vegetation at the national seashore that could be impacted.

Winter, according to the calendar, is still nearly two months off. But that doesn't mean you can't start planning for your cold and snowy national park excursions. Traveler's Essential Park Guide, Winter 2018-19, can help you do that, and also reveal some hellish places in the park system.