National Parks Traveler

The last quiz and trivia piece was all about botany. This quiz is all about wildlife. Now, back in 2011, Bob Janiskee created a Watchable Wildlife Quiz for the Traveler, but I’ve managed to not duplicate any of Professor Janiskee’s questions. So, go ahead and test your wildlife knowledge on these quiz questions before looking at the answers at the bottom of this piece.

Lisa Diekmann, the first executive director of the Yellowstone Park Foundation that four years ago merged with the Yellowstone Association to form Yellowstone Forever, on Monday was named president and CEO of Yellowstone Forever.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is home to the world’s most extensive Permian fossil reef, the four highest points in Texas, various ecosystems, and historic stories of bloodshed and survival all waiting to be explored. From forested mountains and desert dunes, Guadalupe Mountains offer various ways to explore the area through hours of hiking and backpacking trails not for the faint of heart, or via beautiful settings of flora and wildlife within reach of families.

Hurricanes and their aftermath have shuttered a small handful of units of the National Park System from Hawaii to Texas.

Lake Clark and Katmai. Glacier, Great Smoky, and Grand Teton. Olympic, Padre Island, and Yellowstone.

A new CEO is expected to take the helm at Yellowstone Forever next week, a move expected to begin a transition for the troubled nonprofit organization that the National Park Service seriously had considered jettisoning from its role as the main fundraiser for Yellowstone National Park.

A black bear at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming had to be put down after brazenly seeking out human foods and handouts.

In a 180-degree reversal of an Obama administration finding, the Trump administration on Friday said an open-pit mine on the doorstep of Lake Clark National Park and across from Katmai National Park in Alaska would not harm the fisheries of Bristol Bay, a decision quickly denounced by conservationists.

Remember picnics in the park? No fast-food dine and dash, but rather a relaxing homemade menu of sandwiches, fruits, cheeses, and cookies spread out on a blanket with a view? And a cold glass of ice tea or lemonade? The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation is encouraging you to plan such a picnic.

The two of us have enjoyed a half century of travel, much of it devoted to visiting America’s national parks. The initial three decades involved travel in a series of four Volkswagen campers, a vehicle we loved, but that disappeared in 2004 from VW dealers in the United States. If only the company would export its California van to the U.S. More recently we tented and stayed in national park lodges. The many national park visits offered some wonderful surprises including these ten that we seem to remember best.