Grand Canyon National Park is breathtaking. Standing on the rim, either the north or the south, and gazing into that big colorful maw of geology billions of years old can be transformative...or daunting. For some, that first glance convinces them they need to either hike all the way down to the Colorado River or, better yet, join a river trip for two weeks to soak in the significance of this place.

But as glorious as Grand Canyon National Park is, the national park faces a number of significant issues. National Parks Traveler  Editor Kurt Repanshek along with Special Projects Editor Patrick Cone and Jess Repanshek, Traveler’s sound recording engineer, headed to the park in late April to get a better sense of some of the issues that park managers are grappling with and which could alter, possibly significantly, how we experience the canyon.

The following podcast presents a preview of the in-depth coverage we're working on and will be rolling out in the coming weeks and months.