Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park will honor America’s wilderness heritage during its 15th annual Wilderness Weekend this coming Saturday and Sunday.

National parks actually glow in autumn. From the fluttering gold of aspens and larch in the parks along the spine of the Rocky Mountains to the oranges, yellows and reds of the hardwood forests that cover Eastern parks and even on the Southwest’s sandstone, fall is the season of incandescence in the park system. Where do you find these rainbows? Here’s your guide to the "best bets" for fall color in the National Park System.

If you really need a reason to visit Shenandoah National Park -- and you probably don't -- there's going to be a special program on Saturday to view this month's "super moon" from atop Hawksbill Mountain.

Autumn travel may be all about the colors. Leaf-watchers head to Acadia, Shenandoah, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks in droves. Traffic jams aside, that’s a fine way to spend September and October. But before the leaves change, the birdwatchers are out looking for a lot of brown. The first weekend of September, after all, is World Shorebirds Day.