National Parks Traveler Podcast

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.

There’s a lot to see in our national parks and historic sites, including some pretty interesting things underwater. Lynn Riddick takes a look at the Submerged Resources Center, the arm of the National Park Service that locates underwater resources -- whether sunken ships or planes, old ranches or train tracks, coral reefs or kelp forests -- then documents and interprets them. Always with an eye toward their preservation.

Fort Laramie National Historic Site in eastern Wyoming is a rare, overlooked outpost in the National Park System. It's not the only 19th century fort in the system, but it is richly steeped in Western history, from the fur trappers and the cavalry to the Oregon Trail and the Pony Express. During a recent visit, Kurt Repanshek and Fort Laramie Ranger Clayton Hanson walked the grounds. In this week's episode, the first of two episodes, they started at the approximate site of original Fort William and headed over to the sutler's store.