In this final installment of our three-part series on visiting national parks by train, we'll take a look at some options for trips in the central and western United States.
With the approach of Christmas and New Year's, some people remain undecided about what to do and where to go for the holidays. Here are a few suggestions for year-end national park vacations that are likely to result in some lasting memories.
It's well-known that the National Park Service doesn't have all the funding it needs to protect the national parks. That's why contributions, such as the $5.8 million check the Yosemite Fund handed over to Yosemite National Park officials the other day, are so important.
Visiting Yosemite National Park for the year-end holidays doesn't mean you're restricted to the Yosemite Valley. Evergreen Lodge, a small, historic lodge with a clutch of cabins just beyond Hetch Hetchy, has a number of packages available. A side benefit of staying here is helping inner-city young adults find their way in life.
The route for the 2010 Amgen Tour of California, a major, Tour de France-style cycling road race has been announced, and while some cycling fans may be disappointed, other visitors to Yosemite National Park next May can breathe a sigh of relief. Roads in the park will not be included in the route.
Well, obviously not wanting to play second fiddle to the Rockies, which already has received its first snowstorm or two of the season, the High Sierra is showing off its wintry coat today. Check out this shot of Yosemite National Park from the webcam at the Tioga Pass Entrance station.
Fuel economy, it seems, is just as important to black bears in Yosemite National Park as it is with many visitors. And so when the bruins shop for fuel, more and more they tend to find themselves munching out in minivans, according to a study published in the Journal of Mammalogy.
Though geographically outside Yosemite National Park in the Inyo National Forest, this historic way station is rightly part of the park experience if your visit at all touches on the eastern side near Tioga Pass. Dating to the early 1910s when it didn’t take a hardscrabble miner too long to realize he could make more money from the fledgling tourist industry than from hard-to-find ore bodies, the Tioga Pass Resort is a rustic melting pot of travelers.
After years of at-times acrimonious ligation, a settlement was announced Wednesday between the National Park Service and advocacy groups over development in the Yosemite Valley and how it might impact the Merced River, a wild and scenic stream. It's an agreement that could substantially redefine the human impact on one of the most scenic valleys in the world.
National parks represent a spectacular legacy handed down to today’s generations, but it is one that also carries a hefty responsibility of stewardship. That becomes quickly obvious in Ken Burns’ The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. This notion of responsible stewardship is not new at all. In many ways it’s trite.
Volunteer cleanup days will be held in a number of parks this year, but one of the most ambitious is scheduled for five days next week at Yosemite National Park. "Yosemite Facelift" will be held September 23-27, and anyone who participates is eligible for some "thank you" perks in addition to the satisfaction of a job well done.
Camping in the national parks is a lot of fun, and so is this quiz. Answers are at the end. If we catch you peeking, we’ll make you explain the modern-day appeal of backcountry camping in the context of the classic three-stage Pastoral Retreat model elucidated by literary historian Leo Marx.
Ahh, the Internet age. Thanks to its existence, you can now apply for a spot in one of the High Sierra backcountry camps in Yosemite National Park via the Internet.
The Big Meadow fire in Yosemite National Park is listed as 100% contained, and two road closures on the Big Oak Flat Road are ending. Here's an update on roads, trails and other facilities in the park affected by the fire.
What is the most elegant, upscale hotel located in the National Park System? While an argument could be made in favor of several hotels, it is likely that most people would say it is the 4-star-rated Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park.
While the National Park System protects wide swathes of officially designated wilderness, there are many, many wilderness-quality acres in the parks that are not so designated, though they are managed as de facto wilderness. President Obama, with hopes Americans would become more familiar with wilderness, has designated September as National Wilderness Month.
The September-October 2009 issue of Audubon magazine has a Kenn Kaufman article that provides helpful information about birding in twelve national parks.
The Big Meadow Fire in Yosemite National Park has grown to nearly 4,400 acres, and fire bosses plan to institute restricted access along the Tioga Road between Crane Flat and White Wolf beginning Monday and continuing indefinitely.
Whenever something doesn't go according to plan, people understandably want to know what went wrong. And so the officials at Yosemite National Park have put together this list of frequently asked questions about what went awry with the Big Meadow fire -- a prescribed burn that quickly got out of control.
The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park is known to travelers from around the world, but even an iconic park hotel has to defer to the forces of nature. The hotel was evacuated Wednesday afternoon after a series of rockfalls. Following a geologic assessment of the area, the hotel is scheduled to reopen Friday afternoon.
A full-on assault is under way on a fire in Yosemite National Park that started out to be a prescribed burn of 90 acres but now has charred more than 2,200 acres.
If you're going to poach in a national park, that last thing you ever, ever, ever want to do is keep written records of your hunts. That was one of the key mistakes a trio of California men apparently made in going after trophy mule deer in a remote corner of Yosemite National Park.
Some of the least-known resources of the National Park System are the cultural and natural resources that lie below the waters within the boundaries of our park areas. While not as mainstream as activities such as camping and hiking, diving and snorkeling are increasingly popular ways to enjoy and be inspired by these resources.
Wanna see a bear? Odds are good that if you hang out in one of Yosemite National Park's parking lots -- particularly the one near legendary Camp 4 -- you'll see one before too long. Just hope you don't spot a bruin breaking into your car.
The National Park Service's National Leadership Council met in Ohio last week. The meeting of the agency's top management was supposed to be the first under the direction of Jon Jarvis as Park Service director. Political gamesmanship, and apparently a dose of bureaucracy, unfortunately left Mr. Jarvis wearing his Pacific West Region director's hat.
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