Family Nature Summit is an outdoor-oriented family nature camp which attracts about 350 people each year. In 2012, it will be in Rocky Mountain National Park and should be a splendid week.

Though they might not be the most adorable or charismatic of Yellowstone National Park's creatures, bats are residents of the park. And by "adopting" one from the Yellowstone Park Foundation, you can help forward wildlife research in the park.

Roger G. Kennedy, who oversaw the addition of eight units to the National Park System during his tenure as National Park Service director, has died at the age of 85.

Perhaps it comes with age, or inadequate sleeping pads, but in recent years I've often found myself shivering through the night during fall backpacking treks. But the arrival of a revolutionary pad from Therm-a-Rest carries the warm promise of making those nights distant memories.