It was five years ago, on October 18, 2015, that a storm of historic dimensions, pounded Death Valley National Park and sent torrents down through Grapevine Canyon that uprooted utilities, swept away sections of roads, and flooded buildings at Scotty's Castle. While much has been done to repair the damage, it's expected to take until the end of 2022 to have the iconic park destination ready to welcome the public back for regular tours of the grounds and castle.

When you go on a wild cave tour at Mammoth Cave National Park, shimmying around on your hands and knees, you'd never think to watch for sharks. Nor when you explore Petrified Forest National Park and marveled at the rock-solid slabs of wood, you won't sense a need to watch for any burrowing reptiles. But, as it turns out, those creatures did live in those landscapes...once upon a time.

Nearly five years ago someone took a saw or machete to nine saguaros in Saguaro National Park. It happened again, with eight saguaros in the park's west district having been slashed or cut down.

In Three Rivers, California, a historically white census-designated place, too small even to be incorporated as a town, a brewer is redefining multicultural dining so his beer hall on the doorstep to Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks can survive the Covid-19 pandemic.