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Following in the footsteps, and brushstrokes, of Frederick Church, Albert Bierstadt, and Thomas Moran, a New York-based painter plans to spend the next few months exploring the National Park System and "painting the national parks."

Coinciding with the first day of summer is another entrance-fee-free-day in the National Park System.

Threats posed by an imported disease and a tiny beetle to vital stands of whitebark pine trees near the roof of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are to be addressed by a multi-tiered approach developed by the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee.

Earlier this week we had a spirited discussion of whether the National Park Service needs to add a site to honor Cesar Chavez, who orchestrated the farm labor movement in the 1960s. That discussion nips at a larger question: Has Congress led the Park Service astray and turned it into a catchall agency?

Summer easily is the best time of year to get out and get sweaty in the National Park System, if only because the warmer weather makes more opportunities available. In time to help you plan your summer vacation, here's a potpourri of outdoor adventures in the parks.

Despite its deep, shimmering namesake lake, Crater Lake National Park is one of the lesser visited of the great national parks. For those who make the journey, that's a great reward. For those who don't, well, they're missing something special.

A coalition announced plans today to sue federal agencies, including the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency, for failing to protect airsheds over national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges.

There were quite a few books relating to national parks that arrived in 2010, and while we didn't get to read them all, the ones we did we liked. Here's a look back at our Fireside Reads from the year.

Add the National Parks Conservation Association to the number of organizations and developers offering a phone app to help you negotiate the national parks. A big difference here, though, is NPCA is giving its app away for free. Another is its emphasis on park wildlife and nature in general.

Earlier this month the Traveler reported on a car that went over the edge of the caldera at Crater Lake National Park. The vehicle was totally destroyed by the 1,100- foot fall, and the park was faced with a challenging clean-up before the snow flies. Here's an update, plus word of an amazing coincidence linking this accident to a similar event from the past.

If you've got time to squeeze in a fall visit to a national park, here's some good news: There's quite a bit of lodging available in places such as Crater Lake, Yellowstone, Zion, Grand Canyon, and Death Valley national parks.

If you had your heart set on spending upwards of $1,500 a day on a luxury train tour of national parks next year, you'll have to settle for either Amtrak or your own rig. It turns out that this project isn't leaving the station.

There’s a new structure showing up this summer in campgrounds bordering national parks, one that offers a higher level of comfort than the family camper or pop-up tent. More and more campgrounds are adding cabins to their available accommodations, for while more people are heading to the parks, not all want to sleep on the ground in a tent.