“If everyone knew just how beautiful it is, everyone would be out here,” my 64-year-old mother, Jacque, declared as she gently and gracefully stroked the muddy Colorado River with her kayak paddle. “Just think, we’ll get to see amazing sights only a few people have—or ever will—see on this adventure,” I responded with a smile from my 14-foot inflatable Stand Up Paddleboard.

More than $5.3 million in grants will help preserve 1,640 acres at 17 of America’s Civil War battlefields, the National Park Service announced last week. The grants, from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, will go toward projects at battlefields that are threatened by encroaching development in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia.

After receiving year-end numbers from around the National Park System, visitation to the parks last year reached a record 307.2 million, according to the National Park Service. A number of parks attracted some staggering numbers of visitors, such as Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain, which each surpassed 4 million for the first time, and Grand Canyon which tallied more than 5 million, the agency said.

In a continuing series of videos exploring the wonders of Shenandoah National Park, this episode provides an insightful look at the people and history behind the creation of the park.