Park stories

4 Incredible Parks for Winter Wildlife Watching

Emily Pennington // Western National Parks Association Winter, for some, means curling up indoors with a good book, and for others, it means zooming down the ski slopes, feeling the wind on your cheeks. However, we’d like to suggest a less-expected...

Experience Wupatki National Monument

Looking to spend a day exploring trails full of historic pueblos and cultural sites and a high desert teeming with life and signs of a recent volcanic past? Wupatki National Monument is a great place to spend a day or two enjoying Northern Arizona’s...

Author Spotlight: Roger Naylor, Renowned Arizona Travel Writer and Avid National Park Advocate

Roger Naylor, thecelebrated and award-winning Arizona travel writer, has released a new book: Arizona National Parks and Monuments: Scenic Wonders and Cultural Treasures of the Grand Canyon State. The book is a beautiful travel companion for anyone...

Visit White Sands National Park, A Perfect Park for Your Southwest Road Trip

Indigenous peoples have traveled through and stewarded the area now known as White Sands National Park since at least 21 thousand years ago, when they left footprints that later fossilized. The park is on the ancestral land of the Mescalero Apache...

How to Plan Your Trip to Washita Battlefield National Historic Site

Looking to deepen your understanding of Indigenous heritage on the Southern Plains and reflect on the history of the American West? Washita Battlefield National Historic Site preserves the location of a Cheyenne winter village that was destroyed in a...

A visitor's guide to bats in national parks

If you’ve been outside during dawn or dusk, you may have been lucky enough to spot a bat on the wing. These fascinating creatures are the only mammals in the world that fly, and more than 1,400 different species can be found throughout the world. Learn more about why bats are so important, and how you can watch these creatures in a national park.

Skip the Crowds with These Lesser-Known (but Still Stunning) Parks

America’s national parks are getting unbearably crowded. Here are a few throng-free alternatives that we adore. Emily Pennington // Western National Parks Association As someone who spent a year on the road traveling to and writing about every...

National Parks to Visit if You Love Fossils

Sea creatures a quarter of a billion years old. Massive prehistoric mammals. Footprints from some of the first humans to walk the continent.These fossils tell the ancient stories of our national parks, and bring us back to times well before recorded...

Plan Your Trip To Chamizal National Memorial

Are you interested in history? Are you looking for a distinctly urban, but uniquely educational, national park experience? Are you curious about different cultures? Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso, Texas, should be the next park on your list...

Experience the Wonder of Big Thicket National Preserve

A place like nowhere else on Earth . by Kevin Goodwin, Interpretive Ranger at Big Thicket National Preserve Big Thicket National Preserve is like no other place on Earth. A hallmark of extraordinary biodiversity in east and southeast Texas, the...