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Dan Wenk Moving From NPS Headquarters to Yellowstone National Park as Superintendent

Oct 5th - 20:36pm | Rick Smith

Gee, Anon, what studies are you reading? Rick

Oct 5th - 19:05pm | Anonymous

Sounds like a sound choice. Snowmobiles should have access to Yellowstone in winter. Years of research has found that the wildlife are not impacted. The bison and other animals actually seem to benefit from the tracks in the snow and utilize them in their travels!

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

Oct 5th - 20:26pm | S. Reid

I just saw this article about the Grizzly being shot in Denali this past summer and hit "reply" as I agreed with the person.

Exploring Canyonlands And Arches National Parks By RV

Oct 5th - 20:00pm | Kurt Repanshek

Actually, you raise a quite reasonable question, one that the writer (me) should have caught.

Oct 5th - 19:52pm | Anonymous

Can someone please clarify this for me... I would absolutely love to see the Maze! This article talks about the road not being too bad (even doable for an RV) except after rain or at the end of the season. However, the NPS site says:

Oct 5th - 15:14pm | Kurt Repanshek

And if you're good with a canoe or kayak, the "Moab Daily" down the Colorado in this area is a great way to spend a half day (or a full day if you can manage a shuttle).

Oct 5th - 15:02pm | DG Strong

Fisher Towers, just northeast of Moab, is also a good side trip - especially for climbers. I hiked around there one Wednesday and never saw another soul.

Oct 5th - 11:07am | Gaelyn

Plus it's always worthwhile to look at the land surrounding national parks, which is often public national forest or BLM, where one can often camp for free.

Oct 5th - 08:27am | Kurt Repanshek

Thanks for the added insights to Dead Horse! Last time I was there I ended up sleeping on top of a picnic table! And my Subaru fit nicely into the available parking;-) I also found roaming around the plateau to be quite interesting, what with all its potholes, geology, and views.

Oct 5th - 08:10am | dwulfman

It really is amazing how much there is to see in this area. We live a couple of hours from Moab and visit several times per year, but there's still so much more to see.

National Park Hospitality Association Wants More Lodging In The Parks

Oct 5th - 19:07pm | Anonymous

YES! We need more grand lodges built in may parks that lack them!! So long as they are built to match the landscape and use native timber!

Oct 5th - 13:38pm | Anonymous

We must remove consession from parks not sell the parks by adding more!

Oct 5th - 08:38am | pkrnger

To Richard Sellars, Thanks for weighing in on this most important topic. It's very nice to read commentary about the impacts of in-park developments from someone with your professional background and history with natural resources management in our national parks. Owen Hoffman Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Oct 4th - 19:47pm | y_p_w

Dave Crowl: How many people would stop the Old Faithful Lodge from being built if it were proposed today. I personally love visiting that area of Yellowstone and the lodge does not detract for me. Which parks need more lodges today and where to put them are great questions.

Oct 4th - 17:26pm | Richard Sellars

Yes, follow the Cashola: Whatever Crandall proposes should be looked at with a whole gunnysack of skepticism and suspicion regarding preservation of natural resources--and cultural--in the national park system.

Oct 4th - 15:54pm | Dave Crowl

A few things come to mind after reading the article and everyone's comments. First, I stayed for the first time in a Park Lodge. I really enjoyed the the stay. I think supply and demand would help determine need for new lodges. If it is hard to get a reservation and it is always full, maybe building new lodges (or adding a new wing) in or out of the park would be warranted.

Oct 4th - 14:27pm | DLW

Just an fyi...over 25 resorts/hotels/motels are open in the Voyageurs gateway communities in the winter! (Counting from the Voyageurs Rendevous publication pages 14-15 referenced above).

Oct 4th - 13:39pm | Lee Dalton

Employ local citizens? Have you been to Yellowstone lately? Even in West Yellowstain the local McDonald's is run by mostly youngsters from Eastern Europe. (How do you say "Big Mac" in Russian?) And inside the park, most employees seem to be Asian. Why? Are they willing to work for lower wages? Do they work harder than Americans?

Oct 4th - 12:39pm | MikeD

I'm more than willing to entertain questions about the wisdom of having lodges in or near parks. But they do employ people just as "local" businesses do. And as Starbuckdog shows, this guy is promoting private enterprises, not necessarily the federal government, and these places would no doubt employ local citizens.

Oct 4th - 12:25pm | George

There's another value in not building lodges and motels in the parks: it strengthens the bond with gateway communities such as Moab, which get the tourism revenues and jobs. The parks' role in the economy is a big issue to the politicians who represent these areas.

Oct 4th - 12:16pm | Starbuckdog

This discussion is not about convenience for park visitors. This discussion is about increased revenue for the corporate members of the National Park Hospitality Association. Follow the money with me friends. A quick perusal of the NPHA Officers and Board of Directors showed me who stands to profit from more lodging in our National Parks. View here:

Oct 4th - 11:17am | Me

Of course the National Park Hospitality Association wants more services in our national parks. It is big business that brings in around $800 million dollars a year. 2010-2011 NPHA Officers and Board of Directors

Oct 4th - 11:14am | DLW

Gateway communities work very hard to provide the lodging experiences visitors want near National Parks. Speaking for Voyageurs National Park: if the four gateway communities were at 100% occupancy throughout the peak seasons, I could see the NPS looking to add more lodging in the park but they are NOT running at 100% most of the season.

Oct 4th - 11:01am | julie s.

National Parks are not resorts. Isn't that sort of the point? Don't we love our national parks because they are an escape from hotels and amenities everywhere you turn? Or is it just me? There are plenty of other places to visit if you're looking to experience hotels and crowds. I can't imagine why we would need more of that in our national parks.

Oct 4th - 10:27am | Bob Janiskee

Thanks for the update, pkranger. Can't say I'm surprised at the fate of the Wonderland, since it was in such lousy shape. I'd be grateful for photos.

Oct 4th - 10:18am | pkrnger

Bob, The NPS has totally demolished what was left of the Wonderland Hotel. I have photos of the demolition, if you are interested.

Oct 4th - 09:50am | MikeD

Anonymous - I don't think there is a lack of lodging near the park. However, there is not an NPS-style lodge. The only thing there is the Kettle Falls Hotel, which, as the name suggests, is more of a northwoods hotel than a large, rustic lodge. And it's way up there in the top of the park and, I believe, closed in winter.

Oct 4th - 09:41am | MikeD

Voyageurs is sort of an unusual national park - a very large percentage of summer visitors I imagine are anglers, while snowmobiling is very big in winter.

Oct 4th - 09:29am | Anonymous

No place to stay near Voyageurs? Really? Check out pages 14 & 15. http://www.nps.gov/voya/parknews/upload/2010%20Rendezvous%20Final.pdf

Oct 4th - 09:22am | Anonymous

When I visited Canyonlands we stayed in Moab where there are more than sufficient lodging accomodations. Part of the reason we wanted to visit Canyonlands is that it doesn't have the the huge visitation numbers that places like Great Smoky Mtns has. Putting a lodge in the middle of Canyonlands might draw more visitors - might not. But it will definitely take away from the beauty of the park.

Oct 4th - 07:57am | Bob Janiskee

Becky, even though lots of people think of tents and RVs as "lodging," they do not qualify as such -- at least, not in the conventional sense of the term. I admit that the distinction is badly blurred in some instances. Tents can be floored, equipped with beds, and made pretty darn comfortable (as in "glamping"), and many RVs are downright luxurious and can be used as year round residences.

Oct 4th - 07:43am | Becky

Get a grip - have you ever visited a national park? There are plenty of visitors - actually almost too many in many situations. There is amplelodging in our national parks - they are called tents in phenomenal campground sites!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep your ideas to yourself about Glacier National Park. Nothing should be done to disrupt Mother Nature at its best!

Oct 4th - 07:28am | Bob Janiskee

Great Smoky does have the LeConte Lodge, MRC, so you can't quite say "no lodging at all." Thinking of the LeConte as available lodging is a bit of a stretch, though. It's situated at 6,593 ft.(making it the highest guest lodge in the eastern U.S.) and is so remote that it is reachable only by a 5-mile hike or horseback ride. They use llamas to haul in supplies.

Oct 4th - 07:21am | Anonymous

Come on, MRC...there are enough hotels directly adjacent to GRSM to house the citizens of a small country. What about parks like Great Basin or Ozark Riverways, that don't have large gateway towns a la Gatlinburg nor grand in-park hotels a la Yosemite? And there is in-park lodging at GRSM, atop Mt. LeConte.

Reader Participation Day: Help Us Name the Best Adventures In the National Park System, Lower 48 Edition

Oct 5th - 15:44pm | Ranger

Hiking into Bumpass Hell (thermal basin at Lassen Volcanic NP) by moonlight under the full moon last month. Seemed like I was the only person in the entire park. Eerie and wonderful, an experience I won't forget.

Is The Chateau at Oregon Caves National Monument Haunted?

Oct 5th - 14:07pm | Anonymous

I believe.

Nature's Rock Stars in the Spotlight on National Fossil Day

Oct 5th - 12:44pm | Anonymous

I hope that S&M Microscopes paid for the product placement. ;)

Oct 4th - 11:57am | Gaelyn

On the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park there will be a fossil walk at 3:45 on October 13th where visitors can discover evidence of life from the 270 million year old Kaibab Sea.

Believe it or Not, Yosemite National Park Once had a Zoo

Oct 5th - 11:34am | wawonakid

Thanks for the picture of my greatuncle Jay Bruce. an reprint of his book can be found on the internet. just google cougar killer. a seller in arizona has them.

Oct 4th - 18:57pm | LINDA GRIFFIN

My stepfather was Maurice Jones in Placerville Ca. He was a good friend of Jay's who came to visit us occasionally and brought his a copy of his then just published book. My mother was born in Grub Guch and her family settled Freno Flats, Raymond, and Fish Camp. A lot of great memories!

Visiting the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail

Oct 4th - 22:42pm | Brandon Nichols

PS: The first sentence for the caption below the photos at the top of the page should read, in part "...an artist's conception of the falls while the Columbia River was glacially-diverted for thousands of years." During the initial stages of a Missoula Flood event, the falls and the surrounding countryside were under several hundred feet of water!

Oct 4th - 21:58pm | Brandon Nichols

One common misconception is that Dry Falls was produced by the Missoula Floods alone. Essentially Dry Falls was the retreating cataract the glacier-diverted Columbia River which carved Lower Grand Coulee, and as such produced a spectacular waterfall that dwarfed Niagra for many thousands of years. If there were never a Missoula Flood event, we would still have a Dry Falls here.

Piping Plover Production Up At Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Oct 4th - 21:10pm | Anonymous

Everyone supporting the Defenders of Wildlife and Audobon Society need to realize just what they are supporting, they say they are for protecting wildlife but in fact, they are causing needless killings of thousands of native animals on Hatteras Island.

Tree-Ring Research in Sequoia National Park is Hard Work with Important Payoffs

Oct 4th - 19:21pm | Anonymous

When you find a tree stump to study the rings, how do you figure how long ago the tree was cut down, in addition to looking at the rings?

Search Under Way in Yellowstone National Park For Missing Visitor

Oct 4th - 15:00pm | Connie Hopkins

Totally off the subject but I am reminded of an incident from 2 years ago. In 2008, there was a missing Asian hiker in Glacier NP, has there ever been any new information on him?

Record Summer of Turtle Nesting at Cape Hatteras National Seashore Spawns....Debate

Oct 4th - 14:21pm | Ron Saunders

Hey Kurt, If anyone wonders why the Reg/Neg attempt failed, well, I think the preceeding pretty well explains it. Regards, Ron

Dark Skies in National Parks Make It Easy to Spot the Space Station: Here's How to Look for It

Oct 4th - 13:40pm | Bob M

Maybe we'll have clear skies in Shenandoah!

Hiking Victim in Grand Canyon National Park Apparently Died From Heat

Oct 4th - 10:52am | Anonymous

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of Gavin's family and friends. I went to high school with Gavin, and even though we lost touch after high school, I knew him to be a great guy...full of life and charisma. He will be missed.

Winners of National Natural Landmarks Photo Contest Announced

Oct 4th - 08:39am | John P

Jim, I saw your 4/09/2009 article (at /2009/04/think-you-have-knack-photography-heres-chance-show-your-stuff) and I subsequently started entering this photo contest (I am the winner of the 2010 contest referenced above), so I owe you a debt of gratitude for publicizing this in the first instance. Thanks, John H. Pilarski

Stargazing Scheduled for Great Smoky Mountains, Mount Rainier National Parks This Weekend

Oct 4th - 08:34am | pkrnger

We set a record at Cades Cover this weekend. 829 park visitors were curious enough to stay out after dark and walk onto the meadow where 12 telescope stations composed of refractors, motorized and hand drivien reflectors, and large astronomical binoculars were set up to show various objects of the night sky.

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