Every few minutes a bugle call sounded across the empty parade ground at Fort Davis in the rocky hills of west Texas. Every time I heard one, I expected to see John Wayne riding in front of a long column of blue-clad cavalry troopers galloping to rescue me from Apache or Comanche warriors. The morning breeze was gentle and I was the only visitor in sight that early in the morning. It wasn’t hard to let my imagination run for awhile.

A nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving caves has purchased the Daleo Entrance to Mammoth Cave, a portal located on private land just a mile east of Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have announced the dates for firefly viewing in Elkmont. Shuttle service to the viewing area will be provided on Tuesday, May 30, through Tuesday, June 6. All visitors wishing to view the synchronous fireflies at Elkmont must have a parking pass distributed through the lottery system at www.recreation.gov.

There's a new visitor hub at Acadia National Park in Maine, where some of the visitor services offered in the past at park headquarters are moving to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center from May 1 through October 31. The NPS will direct visitors seeking park information and entrance passes to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center to avoid the confusion and congestion of park headquarters during the summer and fall.