National Parks Traveler

The next time you visit the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, D.C., you can take a guide to the World War II Memorial on your smartphone, thanks to the Trust for the National Mall.

Nearly 3 million visitors explored Zion National Park last year...but they saw only a fraction of it.

An important question for travelers on the Blue Ridge Parkway, especially in the winter, is "How's the weather?" The Parkway is open year-round, with one important caveat: "As long as snow or ice do not create dangerous driving conditions." Now, thanks to a new website, BRPweather.com, it's possible to get real-time weather conditions and forecasts for multiple locations along the popular roadway before you decide to go for a drive.

A glance around the national parks shows opportunities to spend the year-end holidays in Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley, Native American celebrations at Grand Canyon National Park, and trail work at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

A section of Blue Ridge Parkway just north of Asheville, North Carolina, will close next week so work can resume on stabilizing the road bed.

A former staffer on the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands has been appointed deputy director of the National Park Service for congressional and external relations.

Though it looks anything but a great habitat for prehistoric animals today, Big Bend National Park's landscape has a rich connection with the long-ago past. And to display some of that history, park officials are proposing to build a fossil exhibit along the Fossil Discovery Trail.

With hunting season in Virginia arriving soon, Shenandoah National Park officials have announced that portions of Skyline Drive through the park will be close nightly, beginning on Monday.

W. Clark Bunting, who most recently was president and general manager of the Discovery Channel, next week takes the helm of the National Parks Conservation Association.

One of the most exciting and intriguing ways to experience Dinosaur National Monument is from a raft floating down either the Green or Yampa rivers as they course through this magnificent landscape. And if you want to land a permit for a private float trip, the Park Service is making it a tad bit easier by moving the application process online.