National Parks Traveler

Signs of the Civilian Conservation Corps -- trails, roads, buildings -- can be found throughout the National Park System, though one of the work crews' iconic productions is outside the parks, in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. There, in the heart of the city's old section, stands the largest adobe office building in the United States.

Canyonlands National Park is divided by the Green and Colorado Rivers into three distinct districts. Needles, Island in the Sky, and the Maze. There are no roads connecting them because the rivers and some very deep ditches are in the way. Island in the Sky is about a two-hour drive north of the Needles. The Maze is another matter. It can be reached only via a very long and circuitous route.

In a conclusion that has been reached in many other court cases across the country, a federal court has found that resource protection trumps recreational interests in a case from Cape Hatteras National Seashore. U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle also found that the National Park Service did not rely on shoddy science when it developed an off-road management plan.

The Black Hills have long been considered sacred ground by the native people, and after a visit here, perhaps you will too. Start your journey in Rapid City, South Dakota, which is set against the eastern slope of the mountains. The history here, of miners, soldiers, and native tribes, is fascinating. Gold drew the original settlers, but tourism now sustains the region.