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Odds and Ends From Visitor Surveys at National Parks: You'd Be Surprised At Some of the Answers

Sep 19th - 16:03pm | d-2

There is no trivializing the visiting public's appreciation for clean and available restrooms. If it seems silly or ignoble. Taking all tourism into consideration, not only National Parks, the restroom is often the major issue. Clean and well-designed restrooms can have a decisive effect on the public's assessment of the professionalism of any site for visitors.

Sep 19th - 14:16pm | pkrnger

Kurt,

Sep 19th - 13:18pm | Rick B.

It isn't just Klondike visitors who have problems parking. EVERYone in downtown Seattle have problems parking.

Sep 19th - 12:58pm | Kurt Repanshek

Perhaps you're right, Lynn. My initial thought was that there are so many ranger-led programs that one could fill their entire Acadia visit bopping from one to another. Here's a glimpse at what they offered in August alone:

Sep 19th - 12:29pm | Lynn

Wow, I think it's pretty amazing that very close to 1 out of 5 visitors to Acadia National Park attend a ranger-led program. They certainly warrant that level of participation because they are very interesting. I've attended "Stars Over Sand Beach" and "Birds of Prey". I've met people on trails who stop and chat about what they've learned from ranger-led hikes.

Sep 19th - 10:10am | Gaelyn

Although it's rather sad, I've always said visitors will remember a dirty restroom before they'll remember a good Ranger talk. Why do they come anyway?

Flamingo Master Plan For Everglades National Park Proposes New Lodge, Cottages, Upgraded Marina

Sep 19th - 13:40pm | John

It's been too long! When's the finish date?

What Do GOP Politicians Have Against Protecting National Park Landscapes?

Sep 18th - 19:55pm | Anonymous

Why can't CONSERVE-atives and CONSERVE-ationists get along? The common interest is clear!

Sep 16th - 11:36am | John Maass

What a silly statement by "Barky." It is almost not worth the time to refute. These kind of generalizations don't hold water, and are easily disproved. For ex., John Warner has been a friend to preservation groups and the NPS. Lest we think that the Democrat Party has a monopoly on environmental issues, I remind you about an issue from 2001 involving the Homestake Mining Co., in SD.

All Was Not Lost When Loggerhead Turtle Determined to Nest at Cape Hatteras National Seashore Was Run Over

Sep 18th - 17:13pm | dapster

SS1, With all due respect, Sir, it is painfully obvious that you are categorically against all ORV use on any beach, for any reason, and while I will defend your right to your opinion, I simply cannot agree with it.

Sep 17th - 13:46pm | SS1

Dap your pictures illustrate better the problems with ORVs on the park beach than I could explain. The ones of vehicles lined up with just enough room to open the door and the rest of the beach an ORV route is an excellent example of one user group (ORV) having a bigger footprint of very finite resource (ocean beach) than another.

Sep 16th - 11:37am | dapster

Kurt, Great article a usual! Thanks for pointing out one of the very few positives that have come out of this tragic event. It's somehow comforting to know that some her offspring successfully hatched. Dave,

By the Numbers: Point Reyes National Seashore

Sep 18th - 16:22pm | Bob Janiskee

You're right about the elephant seals, Mike. Between December and April, a breeding colony of elephant seals can be viewed from the Elephant Seal Overlook on the Elephant Seal Overlook Trail near the Chimney Rock parking lot.

Sep 18th - 15:47pm | Mike Painter

I don't have the numbers, but elephant seals have recolonized the Peninsula in the last 20 years, and there is now a breeding colony, with pups being born in the Winter.

Sep 17th - 14:33pm | George

@Joyce: I would not drive on any beach. When I visited Cape Hatteras National Seashore, I saw that beach vehicles dominate the beaches. The National Park Service is writing a new off-road vehicle management plan, which I hope will be an improvement. A consent decree in 2008 adopted temporary restrictions on beach driving to reduce conflicts with birds and sea turtles.

Sep 17th - 09:52am | Joyce

@George: What do you mean..How far out of step Cape Hatteras is? Do you drive on the beaches at Cape Hatteras?

Sep 17th - 07:39am | Bob Janiskee

MRC is right, George.

Sep 17th - 07:17am | MRC

@George: Certainly not. No driving on any NPS administered beach on the whole west coast.

Sep 17th - 06:40am | George

Are any vehicles allowed to drive on the beaches? I'd like to get a sense of how far out of step Cape Hatteras is, compared to other national seashores.

Fatal Fall from Angels Landing in Zion National Park

Sep 18th - 14:01pm | Lovetohike

I have hiked Angel's Landing many times. If you obey the signs that tell you not to go beyond a certain point that you should be just fine. Many people fall because they decide to go beyond the signs. What happened to this woman was a freak accident and my heart goes out to her family. When you go on the hike, bring lots of water, comfortable shoes, and obey all the signs.

In Case You Were Wondering, Yes, the National Park Service Is Having Technical Difficulties

Sep 18th - 11:50am | RDick

I agree - the websites were made standard a number of years ago. I personally think they are to standard or boring. Plus a number of the sites are not kept current - hours given for last year. Granted there is a lot of information provided but how creatively.

Sep 18th - 06:54am | Gaelyn

Gee, I thought they uniformed web sites years ago.

Doggone! Car with Canine Aboard Goes Over the Edge at Crater Lake National Park

Sep 18th - 11:48am | Anonymous

It's past time to close most of Rim Drive to autos. There's at least one other car in the lake, plus a helicopter. Fuel from the boats has spilled into the lake. There needs to be a campaign similar to Tahoe: "Keep Crater Lake Blue!"

Sep 17th - 09:05am | anonymous

Thankfully, no lives were lost and other than the potential pollution and lost personal items, Lucky-the-Dog made the story Memorable. Now, it is time for CRLA NPS to examine all Historic Rim Road edges/berms to identify places where vehicles may leave the roadway. Both well-placed rustic log sections and boulders will minimize the future risk. Also, there

Sep 17th - 07:57am | Connie Hopkins

WOW! And they say CATS have 9 lives!!

Reader Participation Day: Where Was Your Worst Dining Experience in the National Parks?

Sep 18th - 09:46am | Anonymous

With 30 + years of experience eating in the parks, in general my expectations are pretty low when I dine inside the parks. My most troubling experience was 3 years ago in yellowstone where the manager continuously berated his staff in front of guests. The wait & kitchen staff (all of whom appeard quite young and from other contires) looked scared to death and miserable.

Sep 17th - 10:32am | RangerLady

Since I live and work in the parks, I've had quite a few experiences with the resturaunts, since that's really the only place I have to eat out. I have to say that the worst was with Xanterra in Death Valley. I went out to a faily expensive dinner at their steakhouse and, while the food was excellent, had a terrible server.

Sep 16th - 14:40pm | Kat

I've worked in a number of parks, and have been to more lodge restaurants, but the Ahwahnee in Yosemite was most disappointing. I've eaten there about a dozen times, including for Bracebridge, and have never felt that the food and service lived up to their setting or reputation. Two experiences were especially memorable.

Should Canyon de Chelly Be Given to the Navajo Nation?

Sep 18th - 09:42am | Don Morris

Just to answer an earlier question about Hubbell Trading Post NM - the present unit is comprised of Lorenzo Hubbell's original homestead - a possibility back then. The trading post was the only private land holding for many miles around and is thus not under tribal jurisdiction then or now. I am not sure about Navajo NM.

Traveler's Checklist: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Sep 18th - 09:17am | Anonymous

We're heading to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in early October. Can anyone tell me a great place to view sunset?

Flamingo Lodge is No More

Sep 17th - 14:19pm | Jon Merryman

There's more than grass, skeeters, and gators down in Flamingo. If you know where to look, there are crocodiles! Manatees too, but never found any of the elusive womanatees. Added over a hundred bird species to my lifetime list in my six months living in the park. RIP Flaming-O Lodge...

Sep 17th - 10:04am | Old Flamingo worker

I was just on the maps reminissing about my season working at Flamingo, many more years ago than I want to admit, this truely is a sad loss.

Mesa Verde’s Tribal Park Neighbor: So Near, So Far, So Different

Sep 17th - 14:12pm | mcghiever

I specifically asked my guide, a young man named Scotty, about who else he shared tour-leading duties with. Veronica must have moved on to other things because the only other guide currently is another male.

Sep 17th - 09:21am | Bob Janiskee

@ mcghiever: Glad to hear that you had a memorable visit at the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park -- not that I had any doubt that you would. By any chance, did Veronica guide your trip to the canyon? As for the Balcony House tour in adjacent Mesa Verde National Park, well, just thinking about the exposure on that ladder makes me break into a cold sweat.

Sign Up For Traveler's Weekly Newsletter To Stay Abreast of Park News, Learn of Special Offers

Sep 17th - 12:35pm | wil

Thanks for doing this!!!

Road Construction Didn't Get in the Way of Glacier National Park Visitors in August!

Sep 17th - 12:08pm | Gene Douglas Er...

Not to mention Fall in Glacier gives you a lot of bear sightings, as they are in their rush to gain weight before hibernating.

B-29 Superfortress That Lies at the Bottom of Lake Mead Continues to Draw Attention

Sep 17th - 10:03am | Bob Janiskee

Bill, I suspect that you may be thinking of the twin-engine B-25C Mitchell that was recovered from Lake Greenwood in 1983. It had crash-landed in the water on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) after a pilot on a training flight skimmed the surface of the lake so low that the props ended up churning water instead of air.

Sep 17th - 09:46am | Bill from Dacusville

A B 17 was pulled up from Lake Murray SC a few years back.

Sep 17th - 06:51am | Chrisw

I believe the suntracker equipment was an early variant of the unit that eventually went into the nose of the sidewinder missile. The experiment might have been to determine whether a 'heat seeking' device would work in the air.

Sep 16th - 13:28pm | 12vMan

Thanks for the article. I heard about the plane years ago and wonder about it's exact location often when I'm heading up the Overton Arm.

Sep 16th - 09:44am | Danny P.

Have never heard of this! Very interesting.

Sep 16th - 06:19am | Barky

Wow, what a fascinating story! Thanks for that, Jim.

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

Sep 17th - 03:02am | Anonymous

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on August 17, 2010 - 5:03pm. Some parks do have areas that are off-limits year-round to humans to protect bears. Yellowstone is one. Denali is two. Sable Pass closure. Only a couple clicks from the site of this incident.

Sep 16th - 20:33pm | ravenguard

Hmmm. So you don't need to carry a firearm in bear country because waving your arms has worked so far. Okay, hitting the brakes on my car has worked so far, so I guess I can forget about wearing my seatbelts. Right. Got it. (Lots of folks seem to be escaping from Mister Roger's Neighborhood lately...)

Picking Apples in the National Parks, Some History

Sep 16th - 16:05pm | anonymous

We're glad you have highlighted the value of historic orchards within the NPS System. Sadly, some historic orchards have been removed based on the mis-guided argument that these orchards are "exotics" and without any prior homework to research the correct pome identity. These losses actually occurred at some locations within Redwood NP

National Park Mystery Photo 27 Revealed: Street At Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park

Sep 16th - 14:47pm | Connie Hopkins

I actually googled Trimble Block and saw that they were located in SE Ohio which was why I was guessing the 2 Ohio NPS Historic Sites that I did. I figured it would be process of elimination and I would eventually get it right! Ha Ha!

Sep 16th - 10:39am | Anonymous

Actually, the bricks have been in place for years. Williams Street was rebricked in conjunction with the development of the park in the 1990s. No recent road project changed anything.

Still No Sign of Missing Plane In Katmai National Park After Four Days of Searching

Sep 16th - 10:38am | Anonymous

Mr. Bugno I am a friend of the Spradilins. Wanted to see if you had been able to obtain current information on a daily basis. If you need assistance I can feed you information as it becomes available. Let me know if you need help.

Glacier National Park Officials Proposing To Improve Wildlife Viewing In Many Glacier Area

Sep 16th - 10:05am | jane schneider

I hiked up onto a big horn sheep there last summer. He was grazing about 20 yards from me, gave me the once over, then continued lunch until another hiker came along and spooked him. Also saw mountain goats, but, alas, no bear.

Sep 16th - 08:25am | Anne Moss

I'm looking forward to our visit of Glacier NP next summer. Going to be there in late July and we have three nights booked at the Many Glacier area. Hoping to see lots of wildlife there!

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