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National Park Mystery Spot 33: Hitting a Quail on the Fly

Jan 12th - 09:22am | volknitter

My first thought was Lookout Mountain and the Chickamauga-Chattanooga Nat'l Military Park. The Moccasin Bend of the Tennessee River winds at the base and the nearby incline railway creeps up the mountain's steep slopes.

Jan 12th - 08:05am | Bob Janiskee

Sorry, Eric, it's not Goodheart Lock in Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

Jan 12th - 08:04am | Bob Janiskee

Kudos to Lee Dalton, who is the first to nail this one.

Jan 12th - 07:49am | Eric

I'll through a dart.... Goodheart Lock on Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP? 

It Takes A Community To Create Glacier National Park's Annual Pass

Jan 12th - 09:16am | ILoveBears

I LOVE this.  Kudos to Sheryl Mink!  

Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Offers Chance To Reflect On Equality In America

Jan 12th - 07:52am | Lee Dalton

I've often wondered if anyone knows the identity of the ranger who was standing just behind and to the left of Dr. King on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as he delivered his I Have a Dream speech?  It would be very interesting to hear the story of his experiences that day.

Traveler's View: A Time To Pause In the Parks

Jan 11th - 23:00pm | Lee Dalton

Here is a link to a fine article about this from a Seattle area newspaper: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/01/07/1973890/mount-rainier-shooting-...

Jan 11th - 21:29pm | Anonymous

This is just so heartbreaking............It really hits home hard

Everglades Coalition's Priorities For 2012 Include Better Water Conservation, Land Acquisition

Jan 11th - 18:16pm | Anonymous

Dick--

Reader Participation Day: When Do You Feel You've "Done" a National Park?

Jan 11th - 18:14pm | Rick B.

And it isn't even just the large or notable parks. I visited Saugus Iron Works NHS a couple of years ago and spent a couple of hours in that small park. It was a rich experience and I know I didn't 'get' everything. If I'm back in the Boston area again I'll try to stop by again.

Jan 11th - 14:58pm | Kathy

2011 was our third trip to Glacier National Park.  We ended up spending almost 6 weeks in Glacier this last time and hiked about 250 miles for our website: http://www.hikinginglacier.com/.  I still feel like we only scratched the surface of what Glacier has to offer.  There are still so many more trails to hik

Jan 11th - 14:31pm | Kurt Repanshek

Dick, I've been going to Yellowstone for, oh, about 25 years now, and my trip back in September to the Bechler Region was my first there and opened up an entirely new window into the park for me.

Jan 11th - 14:28pm | Dick G.

We've been to Yellowstone 4 times in three years and it seems like we have only scratched the surface. I would hope to never feel like I've seen it all-- that would be kind of depressing to me??

Jan 11th - 13:07pm | dennis g.

Easy to answer for some parks, but impossible to answer for others. I spent 4 days at Arches, photographing every arch and hiking a number of trails. I've 'done' Arches. On the other hand, I've been to Grand Canyon more than a dozen time, backpacked in from the north and south rims and even did a rim to rim hike - each time spending a week in the back country.

Jan 11th - 12:34pm | michael

Our National Parks are living, breathing, natural preserves, and as such, they are constantly changing (seasons, natural or man made disasters, better weather years, worse weather years, etc.).  So even the relatively smaller parks can never be "done". Heck, this might even apply to some of our heritage parks.

Jan 11th - 12:33pm | Gaelyn

After I work at a park at least 4-5 seasons, then I'm usually done with it. for a while. Yet this will be my 5th season at Grand Canyon's North Rim and I've barely begun to know this place. Could take a lifetime.

Jan 11th - 09:41am | Janet Morgan

Death Valley is my favorite, visited five time for a total of nine weeks, painted over 100 paintings, and there are still so many places I haven't been. I love that folks get so loyal to their park, we were in Big Bend for the millenial new year and every one there has been coming for new year's for years, they knew so much more that new poor new rangers! Loved it.

Jan 11th - 09:24am | SETHSOUZA

I do not think you can ever be done with a park. Each time you visit, something new is there to see, wether it is a season change, wildlife, waterfalls, crouds. I love Yosemite in the winter, since there are no crouds and it is beautiful, but also love it in summer, where I can go anywhere all day long. Never done..

Jan 11th - 09:01am | Lawrence J. Caldwell

Could John Muir have ever said, "Been there.  Done that." and never returned to Yosemite?  Like John, I don't think I have ever "done" a park until I am "one" with the park.  Although I have visited many, some more than once, I have neither done any nor yet become one with any.  Alas, so few have the privelage.

Jan 11th - 08:47am | Lee Dalton

Usually only when I run out of money or time.  (Usually money, darn it.)

Jan 11th - 07:41am | JLA

I think it depends upon the park.  Some parks after a couple visits, I've felt that I had "done" them, and don't feel that additional visits will bring significantly new experiences or feelings.  Others, even after numerous trips into remote backcountry areas, I still don't feel that I've "done" them, I still want to go back and do more.  Examples of parks I don't feel I'm "done" with are Grand

Jan 11th - 05:28am | Volpee

Can anyone really be done with a park?  There is so much to see and experience that it's not possible for me to be done.  When traveling great distances I want to get the feel of a park in the day or two before I move to the next.  I am tempted to go back to my favorites but I just have to move on to the next park and experience that one.

Recalling What Winter's Supposed To Look Like In Yosemite National Park

Jan 11th - 17:35pm | Mike Painter

The day this was posted, I drove up to Tioga Pass and spent the day taking pictures. The lack of snow was pretty amazing/alarming, but it was nice to be able to see Tenaya Lake and the Tuolumne River frozen solid, something you don't normally see.

Find Time To Escape To Big Bend National Park

Jan 11th - 17:06pm | DStaniforth

I'm hoping to be there in 2 months for some hiking and camping. I managed a quick visit in 2009, but I'm hoping to spend a lot longer there this time as I thought the area was wonderful

REI Donates $10,000 To Friends of The Smokies

Jan 11th - 15:09pm | Holly Scott

Thank you, NPT, for featuring this great grant, and the importance of Trails Forever!

Jan 11th - 14:57pm | Brad

Thank you, REI!!! I knew there was yet another reason we were members there.  That's putting their money where their mouth is.  Proud to support them.

Jan 11th - 12:00pm | Dick G.

What a great company!! We will make an effort to support them .Thanks REI!!!

Jan 11th - 07:58am | Danny Bernstein

Thank you REI for your contribution.

Updated: Suspect In Mount Rainier National Park Shooting Found Dead

Jan 11th - 11:51am | nicole

I would like to not see the word just in this sentence:  "The ranger, who became [color=#0000ff]just the ninth[/color] ranger in Park Service history to be murd

Enter A Traveler Contest, Win a Prize

Jan 11th - 10:50am | Bob M

How about an autographed copy of National Parks for Dummies???

Yellowstone National Park Extends String of 3-Million-Visitor Years

Jan 11th - 09:31am | Stormy

Aw, Kurt.  Caught me!   It does create an amusing 'mental picture' of our truck & travel trailer pulling forward & backing up while hubby & I laugh maniacally shouting  "3,000,001...3,000,002...3,000,003! 

Jan 11th - 07:31am | Bob Janiskee

To obtain counting methods info (past or present) for an NPS unit, visit the NPS Stats site select the relevant park, highlight How We Count, and then click on View Report.

Jan 10th - 22:32pm | Doug Leen

I recall as a seasonal ranger at GT and YE for most of the 1970s that Yellowstone topped 3M most years that decade.  Is the counting the same then as now?   

Should Phone Company Be Allowed To Raise 80-Foot Tower Inside Glacier National Park?

Jan 11th - 09:26am | David Crowl

Again, I think The National Park System should come up with  a Building code requirement for all parks that make the structures blend in the best way possible. When I take photos, I hate finding towers, etc in the background. A fake tree while not perfect, beats the alternative.

Jan 11th - 08:50am | Lee Dalton

I'll try to get a photo of the one in Ogden Canyon.  I think it's all steel.

Jan 11th - 00:33am | y_p_w

Lee Dalton: I was just driving up Ogden Canyon a few days ago and realized for the first time that a "tree" up there is really a cell tower. It's been there for several years, but I had not noticed until now. Camoflauge. It could work in Glacier, too. (And Old Faithful and probably a lot of others as well.)

Jan 11th - 00:18am | y_p_w

For those who didn't notice it, there is a side link that points to a brochure. It show a photo of the current tower, includes a description of the plan, and has a diagram of the line of sight transmission of the proposed microwave signals.

Jan 10th - 21:58pm | JEV

I, too, think that it would be better to get the tower(s) in parks to blend in as much as possible, such as with the fake tree ones.

Jan 10th - 17:54pm | Lee Dalton

I was just driving up Ogden Canyon a few days ago and realized for the first time that a "tree" up there is really a cell tower.  It's been there for several years, but I had not noticed until now. Camoflauge.  It could work in Glacier, too.  (And Old Faithful and probably a lot of others as well.) And EC, you're dead right even if your comment was in the wrong place.

Jan 10th - 17:31pm | Anonymous

The new tower is to increase phone and Internet service into the park, not to increase cell phone service. This is for 911 calls and other support for the park.

Jan 10th - 16:54pm | David Crowl

My suggestion would be to come up with a building code for National Parks that requires towers to blend in. Please check out the fake trees that are really cell towers on this link; http://waynesword.palomar.edu/faketree.htm

Jan 10th - 14:06pm | ed-123

If your replacing an existing tower, i don't see the big deal

Jan 10th - 09:26am | Anonymous

The tower has nothing to do with cell phones. No where in the article does it even say anything about cell phones. It is needed to improve the internet availability and speeds for the greater St. Mary area.

House GOP Expected To Resume Push To Exempt Border Patrol From Environmental Laws Across National Parks

Jan 11th - 08:53am | Lee Dalton

Jj Johnson -- sounds like you have the facts. The first thing I heard from a volunteer at the info desk when I walked into ORPI's visitor center last winter was, "No matter what you've heard, this place really isn't dangerous."

Jan 10th - 23:03pm | Jj Johnson

In response to Barbara G.: Perhaps you should visit some of those beautiful desert parks during the cool of winter. You might come to a greater appreciation of the desert, especially the "green" Sonoran Desert. It is really a beautiful place.

Jan 10th - 20:20pm | Leland22

The question that I will ask everyone is this.  Is it completely safe for any US citizen to go to any park or federal land on our borders? If it is not, then someone is remiss for not insuring the safety of the visitors who wish to use these lands for our enjoyment.

Jan 10th - 17:18pm | John Gatchell

Excellent article thank you! I dont believe there is any justification for this bizarre bill pushed by arizona tea party. HR 1505 would allow Dept of Homeland security to build roads, bases, drive damaging off road vehicles and place military sensors ANYWHERE in Glacier National Park --every acre of which is within the arbitrary 100 miles of the quiet Canadian border.

Grizzly Bear Shot and Killed By Hikers In Denali National Park and Preserve

Jan 10th - 16:45pm | David B

Just thought I'd post the results of the investigation /2010/07/no-charges-forthcoming-shooting-grizzly-denali-national-park-and-preserve6320

The National Park to Park Highway

Jan 10th - 12:09pm | Kathy

It was done in 2010.  Here is the first page of the blog, a very interesting read ... http://nationalpark-to-parkhighwaytour2010.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

Check Out Photographic Exhibition Celebrating Shenandoah National Park

Jan 10th - 12:03pm | rjohnson

What an awesome shot by Chase Schiefer. One of my favorite memories from Shenandoah was a similar situation. I was standing on the summit of Hawksbill on cool late summer day looking north to Stony Man with an isolated rainstorm immediately below. The cloud clung under the peak with silver curtains of showers falling into the watershed of East Hawksbill Creek.

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