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National Park Quiz 18: A Potpourri of National Park Trivia

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 3, 2008 - 3:27am

While past quizzes have focused on specific genre involving the National Park System, this week's quiz is a more wide-open, undefined quiz of national park trivia. Answers are at the end.

National Park Quiz 16: Waterfalls

Submitted by Bob Janiskee on August 20, 2008 - 4:00am

A waterfall is defined as a steep descent of water from a height. Whatever you call these falling waters, they delight the senses. This week’s quiz will see how much you know about waterfalls in the national parks. Answers are at the end. If we catch you peeking, you’ll be assigned plunge pool cleaning duties.

Seventy-Five Years Ago, the Reorganization of 1933 Impacted the National Park System Like No Other Event Before or Since

Submitted by Bob Janiskee on August 15, 2008 - 4:00am

What’s the single most significant date in the evolution of the National Park System? It’s hard to argue with August 10, 1933. That’s when the Reorganization of 1933 took effect, and no other event in the history of the national parks before or since can match it for the sheer scale and portent of its long-lasting impacts.

Summer Slump? Lodging Deals To Be Found At Shenandoah National Park

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on August 14, 2008 - 4:20pm

Could high gas prices be impacting national park visitation as the last gasp of summer sets in? That question comes up in the wake of a pretty impressive lodging deal being offered in Shenandoah National Park.

Shenandoah National Park Ranger Roy Sullivan Set the World Record for Being Hit by Lightning

Submitted by Bob Janiskee on August 1, 2008 - 11:00pm

The odds of being struck by lightning once in an 80-year lifetime are about one in 3,000. The odds for two strikes in a lifetime soar to one in nine million. Roy Sullivan, a park ranger at Shenandoah National Park, was struck by seven lightning bolts and survived them all. It just goes to show you something or other.

Coal-Fired Plants Obscuring National Park Vistas

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on May 16, 2008 - 2:45am

On a clear day, you often can see for miles and miles. But as a report from the National Parks Conservation Association points out, clear days are harder and harder to find in our national parks under the Bush administration's relatively laissez-faire approach to coal-fired power plants.

Creature Feature: Hellbenders

Submitted by Chance Finegan on April 14, 2008 - 2:30am

Despite their curious name, “hellbenders” are not demons of the night but rather amphibious environmental monitors of Southeastern creeks and streams. Known to some old-timers as “walking catfish,” these super-sized salamanders gained the “hellbender” moniker for their freakish size and dark, moody color.