National Parks Traveler

Rock outcrops at Shenandoah National Park, places such as Hawksbill, Old Rag, and Little Stony Man, offer great opportunities for viewing the surrounding landscape as well as climbing. But concerns about visitor pressures on these features have led park officials to develop and adopt a Rock Outcrop Management Plan that aims to protect these natural features and their biological communities while continuing to allow visitor access.

Gunshots could soon be echoing across the Antietam, Monocacy, and Manassas national battlefields near the nation's capital as National Park Service personnel work to bring down populations of white-tailed deer that are far above numbers that can interfere with natural revegetation on the landscape.

Fall can be a great season for visiting the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, but to take advantage of the full range of visitor facilities and services, don't wait too long—the annual closure of that area for the upcoming winter will begin on October 16, 2014.

Exploring miles of boardwalk and a dense canopy of old growth hardwood trees might be what many visitors remember about Congaree National Park. But about ten times a year the waters from the Conagree and Wateree Rivers sweep through the floodplain wilderness, opening up a whole new surreal world for paddlers and an opportunity to discover the forest from a unique perspective. Kayak through the woods and experience this special place through the eyes of local veterans Eric Guzman and Edye Joyner.