Ever wonder about a hiking trail you've never trod upon? Ever had some insights regarding a trail you'd like to share? Well, the folks at the Sierra Club have launched a product for you, one designed to provide trail descriptions and also allow you to tweak existing descriptions.

The Buffalo National River in northern Arkansas features over 100 miles of free-flowing river, massive sandstone and limestone bluffs, and excellent opportunities for a variety of outdoor activities in a scenic setting. Here are some suggestions to help you plan a visit.

It's definitely not 21st Century architecture, but then, the National Park System is home to a wide array of architectural styles. Can you identify this location?

Eleven Greenpeace members were arrested Wednesday for mounting a protest on the granite presidential faces of Mount Rushmore National Memorial to urge President Obama to "show real leadership on global warming."

While humans certainly can wreak havoc on the nests of shorebirds such as piping plovers and least terns, so can Mother Nature. A late-June storm that battered Cape Cod National Seashore destroyed a large majority of the seashore's plover and tern nests.

This week’s quiz deals with NPS units that are linked to each other in some way. Answers are at the end. If we catch you peeking, we’ll make you write on the whiteboard 100 times: “The efficient enzymatic resolution of conduritol B and C derivatives is an important step in synthesizing all possible enantiomeric pairs of conduritol stereoisomers.”

While we at the Traveler have in the past raised the issue of what units of the National Park System should be jettisoned, today's survey is just the opposite. Tell us what you would like to see added to the system.

If Yellowstone National Park could be viewed as a bellwether, then those who fear the national parks are suffering from a decline in visitors will be relieved. The latest figures show that a visitation rebound in Yellowstone that started in May has now reached a record pace.

In a refreshing change from business as usual, there's a growing groundswell of citizen support for a new national park to be anchored in the north woods of Maine.

The centennial film series “A Century of Cinema" features movies that were made in Zion National Park. There will be one showing a week in Springdale, Utah, beginning August 13.

Streamside photos in the Rocky Mountains definitely are photogenic, but the footing can be tricky, as an Oklahoma woman learned Monday after falling into a snowmelt-filled stream in Rocky Mountain National Park.

After a series of legal setbacks, Yosemite National Park officials once again are setting out on the path to develop an acceptable development plan for the Yosemite Valley, one that is expected to fully take into consideration impacts to the wild and scenic Merced River.

It took six years, but the National Park Service and the Access Fund, an organization that represents the interests of an estimated 1.6 million climbers, have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together.

Ahhhh, here we are in early July and already the end of summer is in sight. And end-of-summer savings on lodgings in Grand Canyon National Park also are in sight.

Frustrated by fierce opposition, the Fishers have abandoned plans to build a contemporary art museum at the Main Post of San Francisco's Presidio. Alternative sites at the Presidio and elsewhere will now be considered.

Digital mapping. This relatively new technology is a boon to archaeologists and preservationists. It's already been employed at Mesa Verde National Park, and now plans are in the works to digitally map the focal point of Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park is best known for Skyline Drive, the picturesque 105-mile-long road that winds the length of the park along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Dotting that road are some charming lodgings that make great spots to spend the night.

Who doesn't like an old-fashioned ice cream social? If you're in the vicinity of Oregon Caves National Monument in early July, stop by for a scoop or two to help celebrate the monument's centennial.

There's been some discussion on this site in recent months about the need for parks to be more proactive in terms of safety and accident prevention. At least one park has done so in terms of vehicle safety, and another will try to reduce risks on the road for the July 4 weekend.

The Statue of Liberty’s crown reopens to the public on July 4. Soon somebody schlepping up those 354 steps will have the dubious distinction of being the first visitor to make a personal acquaintance with Lady Liberty’s RAT.

With the U.S. Senate's inaction on a measure that would direct the National Park Service to allow stocking of non-native fish in North Cascades National Park, that practice has come to an end. But park biologists are working with Washington state fisheries experts to improve fishing elsewhere in the park.

Here's a good deal: The National Park Foundation will give you a free "Owner's Guide" to the National Park System to help you enjoy the parks.

Officials at Lake Mead National Recreation Area are expecting plenty of visitors for the holiday weekend, and they're reminding them about new regulations that went into effect last March: glass and styrofoam containers are no longer welcome in the park.

He was known, quite appropriately, as the "hanging judge." During his 21 years at Fort Smith, Judge Isaac C. Parker sent 160 men to the gallows, a replica of which this week's Mystery Photo depicts.

Shuttle bus systems are growing in popularity as one way to reduce the impacts of private vehicles on parks—and on the experience of visitors. Here's a look at some of those systems at NPS sites around the country.

If you're planning to spend the holiday weekend in Yosemite National Park, you might run into smoky conditions on occasion due to two fires burning in the park.

A U.S. senator, unhappy with progress Theodore Roosevelt National Park officials are making on reducing the park's elk herd, is trying to legislate a hunt in the park to get the job done.

The federal government has threatened to seize six California state parks if the Golden State temporarily closes them to cut costs and help close a serious budgetary gap. What’s the likelihood that the feds would actually do such a thing? Should Californians really care?

A family boating trip on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park nearly had a tragic ending earlier this week. Prompt emergency care saved the day, and the situation can serve as a reminder for others as the peak summer boating season begins.

Now that New Mexico's Glorieta Pass Civil War Battlefield has an interpretive trail, visitors can take self-guided tours of the place where the “Gettysburg of the West” was fought.