Currently only one trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway, at the Folk Art Center, is designated as accessible according to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The BRP Foundation is funding two projects this year to make more trails on the parkway accessible; one at Price Lake in the Julian Price Park in North Carolina and another at Abbot Lake at the Peaks of Otter in...
Learn MoreHalf Dome in Yosemite National Park, an iconic visual representing the American West, is famous for many reasons. Many of us grew up seeing Half Dome memorialized in the black-and-white photographs of Ansel Adams. However, for nature lovers and backpackers, Half Dome represents one of the most arduous trails in North America, especially the final 400 feet of...
Learn MoreWhenever the National Park Service has surveyed visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park about their planned activities while in the Park, the number one response has always been “viewing scenery – scenic views.” Over the years the number and quality of those scenic viewpoints along Park roads has gradually declined. When Park roads were...
Learn MoreIn 1821, the Santa Fe Trail became America’s first great international commercial highway, and for nearly sixty years thereafter was one of the nation’s great routes of adventure and western expansion. Mindful of this, the Santa Fe Trail Association (SFTA), a non-profit association with a 501 (c)(3) status, was created in 1986 to help protect and preserve it....
Learn MoreThe National Park Service will begin conducting a survey to determine if some areas within the Monongahela National Forest should be made into a national park – something West Virginia doesn’t currently have. The proposed High Allegheny National Park could be formed from lands in the northern area of the Monongahela National Forest, which is already federal...
Learn MoreLisa Hendy was driving through Wyoming in a blizzard when she received the news that she had just been awarded the National Park Service’s (NPS) 2011 Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award for excellence, in effect dubbing her as the best ranger in the nation. “I had to pull over when my supervisor told me,” she told OldWestNewWest.com Travel &...
Learn MoreOn Wednesday, November 2, the National Park Service will hold the first of four meetings on the Blue Ridge Parkway’s first-ever general management plan (GMP) in Asheville, North Carolina. This important document, the first in its 75 year history, will guide resource management at the park for the next twenty years. When the Blue Ridge Parkway was established in 1935, it...
Learn MoreWater consumption while hiking is often stressed but food is not mentioned nearly as often. The National Park Service advises hikers to eat and drink more than normal when hiking. This includes eating before, during and after a hike. Just as hikers are supposed to drink before they are thirsty, they should also eat before they are hungry. The National Park Service says...
Learn MoreGreat Smoky Mountains National Park announced the approval of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) of the Environmental Assessment (EA) on a proposed plan for managing a permanent herd of elk in the Park. The approved plan, signed on October 20, 2011, culminates a 10-year effort to reestablish elk to their native range. In June 2010, the Park published the EA...
Learn MoreThe 24-hour BioBlitz in Arizona’s Saguaro National Park added more than 400 species to park lists, including 190 species of invertebrates and 205 species of fungi previously unknown to the park, the National Geographic Society said in a news announcement. At least one species of bryophyte is new to the park and potentially new to science, Geographic added in a...
Learn MoreThere has been a lot of work on hiking and biking trails adjacent to the 10,600-acre Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia this year. The Summit will be home to the national Scout jamboree starting in 2013 and the 2019 World Scout Jamboree. It also will become the Boy Scouts’ fourth high-adventure base — and, likely, its most-visited, given its...
Learn MoreYou know you’re going to be hiking next year. Why not do it in style in one of the hundreds of US National Parks? Get a head start on your 2012 vacation planning with the Park Service calendar of fee free days. America’s Best Idea – the national parks – gets even better with several fee-free days at more than 100 national parks that usually charge...
Learn MoreWith the Autumn season in full swing, the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, announced the 2011 “Great National Parks for Fall Foliage” list. This year’s list includes some iconic parks and a few lesser-known treasures. Each national park location, however, offers unique ways in which visitors can view the colorful foliage....
Learn MoreThu, Sep 29 3:00 PM Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 326 – Heffner Gap Overlook The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (OVNHT) and the Blue Ridge Parkway are pleased to announce the certification of a new segment of the OVNHT and invite the public to join in a ceremony officially recognizing the designation on Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. at the...
Learn MoreNational Public Lands Day is fast approaching. September 24th is right around the corner. A National Public Lands Day signature site is a volunteer event featuring special guests, speakers, unique programming or educational activities. This year, the signature sites are Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. and Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Ga....
Learn MoreThe North Country Trail is a 4,600-mile National Scenic Trail that runs through seven states from New York to North Dakota. The Michigan portion is 1,150 miles, of which 758 miles are complete. The trail is administered by the National Park Service, which works in cooperation with land managers along the route, sometimes federal, state or local government units or private...
Learn MoreYosemite Conservancy and the National Park Service celebrated the completion of a $13.5 million campaign to restore popular hiking trails in Yosemite National Park from Yosemite Valley to the rugged back-country of the High Sierra. “Our goal was elegant in its simplicity – improve the condition of Yosemite’s most treasured, high-profile trails in order to protect...
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I first visited Hanging Lake in 1982. I heard this summer that the federal government had designated the site a National Natural Landmark, so it piqued my curiosity to take a look again. Glenwood Canyon is a rugged and remarkably scenic place with tall red sandstone cliffs rising 1300 feet on both sides of the Colorado River. The trail up the canyon to the lake follows...
Learn MoreThe Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) Land Protection Program and volunteers from the American Hiking Society and Frostburg State University will be marking the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) boundary in Andover, Maine. Maine has more National Park Service (NPS) corridor boundary miles than any other state on the A.T.; with almost twice as many boundary miles as its...
Learn MoreAbove-average water levels from this spring’s lingering snowmelt nearly broke records in Yellowstone National Park’s lakes and streams this month. The good news is that the water has peaked and is on its way down. The not-so-good news is that a sizable portion of backcountry trails and some campsites throughout the park remain soggy and muddy, with a marked increase...
Learn MoreThe original reason for limiting commercial guided use to parties camping at the Savage River Campground was to limit commercial traffic on the Park Road beyond the Denali Visitor Center. Additionally most of the Savage Alpine Trail is in designated Wilderness, and park managers were concerned about the impact of numerous commercially guided groups on wilderness...
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, publisher of Meanderthals, and a passionate hiker. I live in western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my doorstep, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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