National Parks

By Jeffrey Ryan Today is Frederick Law Olmsted’s 200th birthday. Many know him as “the man who designed Central Park” (along with partner Calvert Vaux) in 1857. But Olmsted’s influence on the American cultural landscape was, and remains, staggering in scope. National Parks, National Forests, National Monuments, college campuses, hospital

By Everett Potter For those intrigued by the concept of hitting the open road in a luxury van, the sage advice is to make plans now. Last summer was off the charts for such rentals and this year is already shaping up to outpace it, according to the folks at

By Larry Olmsted The National Park Service (NPS) is slowly reopening parks nationwide, but at least in the short term, some concessions and facilities will remain closed and it won’t exactly be business as usual. At this time, you should check any park’s individual website for details of what is

Sunset at Mather Point, Grand Canyon National Park. @ XANTERRA By Everett Potter Nothing says “summer vacation” like a visit to one of America’s National Parks. But as summer approaches and the coronavirus stay-at-home mandates continue, when will they reopen? The fact is, while Yosemite, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone are

[SlideDeck2 id=15143] By Julie Maris/Semel Two tiger cubs squabble and their mother reprimands them with a reverberating ROAR! Like drums resonating through Bandhavgarh National Park, the roar puts every living thing on high alert. The memory of that penetrating sound echoes louder than my first glimpse of a tiger crouching

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the people who run all of America’s national park lodges acquired Austin-Lehman Adventures, now called Austin Adventures. A year prior, Xanterra purchased VBT Walking and Bicycling Vacations. Now we’re beginning to see the results of that acquisition. VBT

Winter is my favorite time of year to visit America’s National Parks. Consider that iconic granite sculpture, Mount Rushmore. Approximately 3 million people a year visit the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Honest Abe. Come winter, visitation drops from highs of 5,000 a day in summer to less than 100 people

Half Dome and waterfalls from Glacier Point. This was a very bright scene during the middle of the day. But using exposure compensation helped saturate the colors and avoid a washed-out photo. Story and Photos By Karen Glenn I stood in the shadow of Half Dome reading the Yosemite calendar