Grand Canyon’s North Rim is remotely satisfying

These are sights you do not forget, no need for a smartphone or GoPro. The Grand Canyon constantly surprises and delights. And it is at the North Rim, the less-visited but no less sublime national park outpost, where you can experience the Grand Canyon in its purest form – unless, of course, you have the temerity and back-country skills to camp out for days on the canyon...

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Panthertown Cold Mountain Trail Head Will be Closed August 3rd – August 14th

PANTHERTOWN, N.C., July 31, 2015- Nantahala District Ranger, Mike Wilkins, advises everyone that Forest Service road 4673 which accesses the Panthertown hiking trail system from the east side in the Cold Mountain area will be closed beginning Monday morning August 3, 2015 on week days until August 14, 2015 to construct a 9-12 car parking area. The project is a...

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The most polluted US national parks

The National Parks Conservation Association issued a report that found some of the country’s most popular national parks are plagued by polluted air and hazy skies — and are decades behind schedule getting rid of them. The report flunked Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree and Yosemite in California — giving each park an F for routinely having unhealthful levels of ozone...

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Residents urge Phoenix to address hiking on deadly Echo Canyon Trail

Following a number of deaths in recent years and dozens of rescues, residents of Paradise Valley, Arizona are concerned with hiker safety on the Echo Canyon Trail because of a lack of signage marking the trail and warning of its difficulty. One of those residents, Ryan Wooddy, can’t help but notice when rental cars are parked at the Echo Canyon trailhead near his...

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Tips for getting kids out on the hiking trails

Wouldn’t it be great if your kids begged to go on a hike instead of playing video games or going to the mall? There are ways to encourage their love for the outdoors and as they develop more of a comfort level in nature, you may find them coming up with new plans to head out a trail. If you’re looking for a place to start, Jennifer Pharr Davis has some practical tips....

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The West Is Still On Fire

Just in time for peak tourist season, Montana’s Glacier National Park is on fire. As of July 28, some 3,200 acres of the park were engulfed by wildfire, which began a week ago and caused park officials to shut down three separate campsites throughout the park as well as close off the St. Mary Visitor Center. As of the 29th, the wildfire was 56 percent contained, and...

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Bob Stratton Bald via Connector 54A, Nantahala National Forest

Deep in the remote southwestern corner of North Carolina where the scenic Cherohala Skyway climbs to meet Tennessee at Beech Gap, the Bob Bald Connector Trail (54A) climbs a ridge through Nantahala National Forest to Bob Stratton Bald. One of the lush mountaintop meadows the Southern Appalachians are known for, Bob Bald as it is called, straddles a boundary between...

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New Report Reveals The Severe Economic Impacts Climate Change Will Have In The South

Climate change is set to hit the Southeast United States hard. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the Risky Business Project, a nonprofit that focuses on the economic impacts of climate change. The report, which focused on 12 states found that the increased heat and humidity that these states are expected to experience as the climate changes will put the region’s...

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Visits to Great Smoky Mountains National Park up 8 percent for first half of year

Great Smoky Mountains National Park says more than 4.3 million people visited between January and June, an 8 percent increase from the first half of 2014. The park is the most visited of the national parks. More than 1 million people visited in May, the most for May since the National Park Service began tracking monthly visitation in 1979. Visitation increased 26 percent...

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13 Giant Companies Make Big Climate Pledges

Thirteen giant companies joined the Obama administration’s Act on Climate initiative, announcing at least $140 billion in new low-carbon investment and more than 1,600 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy, the White House said. The pledge from Coca-Cola, Walmart, Apple, Google, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and other big-name companies comes in advance of the United...

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Hiking trails around Annapurna deemed safe after Nepal quake

The most popular trekking trail in Nepal escaped damage during April’s devastating earthquake and is safe for hikers to return, an assessment team said. Kit Miyamoto of the California-based engineering firm Miyamoto International assessed the 125 miles of trekking trails around Mount Annapurna, and said that the only hazards were found at three spots and appeared...

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How To Prevent Your Dog From Overheating On The Hiking Trail

This summer has brought extreme temperatures to many U.S. states. Human hikers know that it’s important to carry enough water, wear loose-fitting clothes and wear a wide-brimmed hat when venturing out in temperatures that have been getting up to 100 degrees. But what about their canine companions? They don’t have the same options to shield them against the heat; all they...

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Public Land Under Siege: US Wilderness

On the 26th of March 2015, the United States’ senate voted to pass SA 838, a budget amendment that constitutes the first step in allowing the transfer of certain types of federal land into the stewardship of individual states and paving the way for the sale of these lands to private concerns. The amendment, proposed by Alaskan senator Lisa Murkowski, garnered 51 “yeas”...

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Asheville hiker Davis elected to Appalachian Trail board

Record-setting speed hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis, of Asheville, has been elected to the board of directors of The Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The board is responsible for communicating the mission of the ATC, and enhancing the public standing of the ATC by ensuring legal and ethical integrity and practicing fiscal responsibility. Davis is an avid hiker and Appalachian...

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Thru-Hiking the Idaho Centennial Trail

The Idaho Centennial Trail is more of an idea than a completed trail. Running from the desert bordering Nevada clear to the cool mountain forests of north Idaho, the trail covers between 900 and 1,200 miles of the state. “I would guess 10 people have thru-hiked it,” said Clay Jacobson. “In history.” Jacobson’s goal this summer is to join the...

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Fossil fuel companies impose more in climate costs than they make in profits

It is fairly well understood by now that releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere imposes an economic cost, in the form of climate change impacts. In most cases, however, those responsible for carbon emissions are not required to pay that cost. Instead, it’s borne mainly by the world’s poor and low-lying countries, and of course...

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Crabtree Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway

Crabtree Falls is a 70 foot cascade on Big Crabtree Creek, a short hike from the Blue Ridge Parkway. The creek drops over a black rock face with many small ledges, giving it a delicate web-like appearance. A trail descends 500 feet over the course of a mile as it leads to a footbridge crossing the creek at the base of the falls. In the Spring, an impressive array of...

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How Walking in Nature Changes the Brain

Taking a stroll in the park may soothe the mind and, in the process, change the workings of our brains in ways that improve mental health, according to a new study of the physical effects on the brain of visiting nature. Most of us today live in cities and spend far less time outside in green, natural spaces than people did several generations ago. City dwellers also...

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Earth’s Most Famous Climate Scientist Issues Bombshell Sea Level Warning

In what may prove to be a turning point for political action on climate change, a breathtaking new study casts extreme doubt about the near-term stability of global sea levels. The study—written by James Hansen, NASA’s former lead climate scientist, and 16 co-authors, many of whom are considered among the top in their fields—concludes that glaciers in Greenland and...

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Progress on Bipartisan Plan to Reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced a bipartisan agreement to permanently authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The law’s current 25-year authorization expires on September 30, 2015. “This is a huge step forward at a critical time because the program’s current authorization...

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The Perfect Itinerary for Sequoia + Kings Canyon National Parks

California is fortunate to be home to nine national parks, more than any other state. With such a plethora of natural and national treasures, it may not come as a surprise that two of the state’s most spectacular parks, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, are often overlooked. While typically referred to together, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are actually two...

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Hiking the Great Walks on New Zealand’s rugged South Island

Several items are essential for exploring the magical Southern Alps mountains that run across New Zealand’s South Island: insect repellent, rain gear and ear plugs. The repellent is to ward off sandflies, those annoying black bugs that are the itchy scourge of hikers in Fiordland National Park. The park, which is bigger than Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks...

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AccuWeather Launches AccUcast, Providing Exclusive Crowdsourced Weather Feature Worldwide

AccuWeather Global Weather Center – July 21, 2015 – AccuWeather, Inc., the global leader in weather information and digital media, today introduced AccUcast™, an exciting interactive crowdsourcing feature available in the AccuWeather universal iOS app where users can now share their local weather updates. AccUcast is the only crowdsourcing tool with live crowdsourced...

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Red Rock Country: What Locals Wished You Knew

“There are two easy ways to die in the desert: thirst or drowning. This place is stained with such ironies, a tension set between the need to find water and the need to get away from it. The floods that come with the least warning arrive at the hottest time of the year, when the last thing on a person’s mind is too much water.” The Red Rock Country of...

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EPA to study effects of Roundup on 1,500 endangered species

300 million pounds of glyphosate are used in the U.S. each year, but its impacts are largely unknown. For more than a decade, milkweed, that tall green plant with purple or orange flowers, has been rapidly declining in Midwestern states. Little research has been done on the abundance of milkweed in Western states, though many scientists suspect it may be struggling as...

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English national park’s are brimming with nature’s riches

A stock-take of the 10 parks established to preserve the England’s natural riches shows how they have become vital sanctuaries for a wonderful array of threatened and rare plants and animals. While the national parks cover only 10 per cent of England, they contain a high proportion of habitats such as heath, fen and ancient woodland that have been lost over the...

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Keeping Alive The Korean Love For Hiking, Thousands Of Miles From Korea

Mountains cover 70 percent of the Korean peninsula, and in South Korea, an estimated 1 in 3 Koreans goes hiking more than once a month. Over the past few decades, hiking has become way more than a weekend activity. It’s part of the Korean national identity. Across the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, second- and even third-generation children of Korean...

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Hiking the Appalachian Trail: Meet on the ledges

The Appalachian Trail north of Damascus, Virginia, follows a portion of the Virginia Creeper Trail, a popular 35-mile rail trail, before climbing into the high country of grassy bald summits and spruce-fir forests of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, which contains 5,000 acres of terrain over 4,000 feet in elevation. At 5,729 feet, heavily forested Mount Rogers...

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