National Parks Traveler

Water provides the energy needed to drive the machinery at Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, but without waterwheels to capture that energy, well, all that energy would be lost. To keep things running, the park site currently is working on building five new waterwheels by hand. What's missing, though, are some good trees. Large white oak trees, specifically, that can be fashioned into shafts for the waterwheels.

Aztec has nothing to do with the Aztecs of Mexico and Central America. But it does have everything to do with Ancestral Puebloans. It may be one of many places people from Chaco moved to when Chaco was abandoned. Occupation here began in about the late 1000's and flourished until around 1130. By the late 1200's, this settlement was abandoned as so many others had been. As is the case elsewhere, no one knows why.

Are there wolves and bears at Banff National Park in Canada? You bet, as this video clearly shows. It was taken from a remote camera set up along the Bow Valley Parkway during a seasonal travel restriction. With humans out of the picture, the wildlife came into view.

Barring the unexpected -- a significant late June snowstorm -- the entire Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park in Montana should be open from West Glacier to St. Mary this coming holiday weekend.