Browse Through the Traveler Content

As the country endeavors to become more and more energy independent, new techniques for extracting oil and gas from beneath the landscape are greatly expanding the footprint of energy exploration in the country. These efforts have greatly increased the production of oil and natural gas in the United States, and they also are creating problems when the drilling operations turn up on the doorsteps of national parks.

What's the deal with scale and perspective when you're taking photographs in the national parks? It's all about placing things in their proper context...or the context you want to reflect.

Pretty pictures of national park vistas are commonplace. But how would you react to a photo that showed the crumbling side of the parks?

A proposal to create a 1.4-million-acre national monument wrapping Canyonlands National Park in Utah should not be dismissed out of hand, but receive serious consideration from the Obama administration. And it should receive equally serious consideration from Utah officials who promote the state's recreational wonders in one breath and demand a turnover of federal lands in the next.

Seldom Seen Smith has to be rolling his eyes, and George Hayduke just might be thinking of calling the Monkey Wrench Gang back together. Why? A voluminous Interior Department report looking at how best to manage precious water resources in the Colorado River Basin largely ignores national parks the river flows through.

Dotting the sandstone floors of the Colorado plateau are countless potholes -- shallow depressions that hold water only for short periods after rains. But during those wet periods, these potholes come to life with a variety of intriguing creatures, including fairy shrimp.

If you're planning a visit to southeastern Utah's national parks, be aware that the Southwest's hot, dry conditions have led National Park Service officials to issue restrictions on open fires in Arches and Canyonlands national parks as well as Natural Bridges and Hovenweep national monuments.

Sunlight so bright it stains the rocks? It certainly seems so in the red-rock country of southeastern Utah, where Arches and Canyonlands national parks dazzle with both their scenery and their adventures.

Spring is showing up in more and more corners of the country, which means it's a perfect time to check out what's blooming in the National Park System. Here's a quick list of some reliable sites to catch wildflowers in the weeks ahead.

The roster of national park "friends groups" has grown with the relatively recent arrival of the Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks, an organization working to support projects within those two red-rock gems of the National Park System.

While the more than 2,000 rock arches at Arches National Park might hold your kids' attention for a good period of time, sometimes you just have to get down and dirty to keep them happy. That's when you should head to Sand Dune Arch.

With warm weather already here in some parts of the Southwest, and with disposable water bottles on their way out from a number of national parks, what's the best way to stay hydrated in the parks?

The National Park Service is using modern technology to share holiday greetings from parks across the country. Short videos filmed in 15 parks are airing on the National Park Service's YouTube channel through the end of the month.