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Summer brings a wealth of flowers to those parks that have enjoyed spring flowers like Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It also brings flowers to Rocky Mountain National Park and the parks in Alaska where the snow is just melting.

If you want outdoor adventure in a Utah national park, but feel you don't have the necessary skills or local knowledge, it's time to call in a guide. Here's what you need to know to make the right choice.

It's soon going to cost private river groups a bit more to go padding in Canyonlands National Park.

If all goes as planned, mountain bikers, hikers, and paddlers will once again be able to access the Green River and tie into the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park via the Mineral Bottom Road switchbacks late this month.

If you ever wanted to wake up with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or even chai along the Green River as the sun glints off the cliffs of Dinosaur National Monument, or enjoy dinner along the Colorado River as it roars through Canyonlands National Park, you can do it this summer at a discount if you act soon.

Arches National Park soon could have an official management plan to guide climbing and canyoneering in the park where the geology offers climbers a sprawling playground of options.

OK, you've landed your permit for a float trip through Canyonlands National Park, or Dinosaur National Monument, and you're faced with creating a menu for a crowd of famished paddlers. Consider serving up "Big Drop Omelets" for breakfast!

Hiking trails are one of the best ways to enjoy national parks. They lead you out into nature, get you some exercise, and quite often showcase some gorgeous vistas. Here's a look back at some of the great trails we've mentioned on the Traveler during the past 12 months.

Though summer draws the bulk of Bryce Canyon National Park's 1.2 million annual visitors, a strong argument can be made that winter is a more fascinating time to visit this red-rock icon. The sharp contrasts between fresh-fallen snow, cerulean skies, and the park's red-hued amphitheaters are spectacular. If you can manage a winter escape, here are some tips for touring Bryce Canyon.

During my recent hike in Shenandoah National Park along the Appalachian Trail, I came upon a tight crook in the trail that carried Ivy Creek downhill amid a flurry of gold, red, orange and yellow leaves of fall. There can be no more spectacular setting that the hardwood forests of the East. Unless it's set ablaze by the pastel daubs of spring wildflowers in places such as Glacier, Saquaro or Canyonlands national parks.

Human-produced dust, mostly from grazing and farming, settles on mountain snowpacks in the Upper Colorado River basin and significantly reduces runoff. Eliminating this "dirty snow" phenomenon, which impacts national parks as well as the regional economy, would require a huge reduction in soil-disturbing activities.

A powerful thunderstorm that raked Canyonlands National Park did substantial damage to routes along the famed White Rim and has stranded some vehicles at the bottom of the Mineral Bottom switchbacks, park officials said Friday.

John Wessels, who has served as the National Park Service’s Intermountain Region associate director for administration, business and technology since 2004, has been named director of the region, the largest in the agency.