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Sometimes a short, easy hike is just what you need for a nice change of pace during a park visit. The Window View Trail at Big Bend National Park is a great leg-stretcher to begin or end your day, and it has a bonus—an outstanding view, especially at sunset.

Big Bend National Park has long been known as a great place to enjoy the night sky, and thanks to a recently completed project, nighttime has gotten even darker, especially around the park's main developed area in the Chisos Basin.

Spring is a fantastic time to be outdoors. Along with the beauty of plants in bloom, a trip to a national park can reveal mammals emerging from their hibernation and frogs singing up a storm. But the one spring event that brings countless new and life-long nature lovers to our nation’s parks is the return of migratory songbirds.

Should The Wilderness Act and the Endangered Species Act be suspended in areas along the U.S.-Mexico border to allow the Border Patrol to perform its job?

Poets tell us where young men's thoughts turn in the spring, but the staff at Big Bend National Park knows the arrival of warmer weather means life in that park is going to get crazy. Big Bend's busy season is here, and a spate of recent incidents proves it must be spring in the desert.

Peregrine falcons have long fascinated humans with their beauty, speed and dramatic dives, but the birds had all but disappeared from much of North America only a few years ago. They're making a dramatic comeback, and seasonal closures of key nesting areas in several parks are both helping in that recovery and offering opportunities to see the birds.

Big Bend National Park officials are drawing up a wilderness proposal that could come into play if someone in Congress proposes wilderness legislation for the park. While many have been calling for officially designated wilderness in the park, the proposal is drawing some concern for the wide buffer zones it would create for roads. Park officials, though, maintain the wide corridors are needed to address such things as archaeological and paleontological sites as well as flash-floods.

Some of the best star gazing can be had in national parks. Proof of that can be found at Natural Bridges National Monument, Yellowstone National Park, Big Bend National Park, even Acadia National Park. Those and other park settings are celebrated in a series of night sky posters issued in conjunction with the International Year of Astronomy.

If you're looking for dramatic desert scenery, a chance to get away from crowds, and lots of variety in elevation, climate and things to do, you'll find all that and more in Big Bend National Park in Texas. Here are some tips to help you plan a visit.

What's ho-hum in one park, when it comes to bikes, is decidedly more controversial in another. Which should make the coming few weeks interesting.

It's no secret the National Park Service lacks the budget it needs to properly take care of the 391 units of the National Park System. Thankfully, there are groups such as Friends of Big Bend to help meet some of the needs, such as improved lighting to help minimize light pollution at Big Bend National Park.

The idea of an international park along the U.S.-Mexican border around Big Bend National Park has been kicking around for decades. A statement released after the recent North American Leaders Summit has revived hopes of supporters of the concept, but what did that statement really say?

NPS areas are becoming increasingly valuable as places where we can enjoy the night sky with minimal light pollution from civilization, and protecting the "dark" can also save money. A project in Big Bend National Park demonstrates what can be done, and shows what all of us can do, wherever we live.

What might 2009 hold for wildfires, in parks and other areas? Experts at the National Interagency Fire Center have issued a fire season outlook for the next several months that provides an educated guess.