National Park Archives

February 14, 2019August 23, 2019

Your Guide to Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands National Park is one reason why Moab, Utah has exploded in popularity in recent years. With almost 800,000 visitors annually, its Island in the Sky Visitor Center is less than an hour drive from town. At the center of the park is the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. Looking at a map, you’ll see the two rivers form a “Y,” dividing the park into three distinct districts. For practical purposes, it’s three parks in one: the wedge at the top of the Y is the Island in the Sky District, the southeast section is the Needles District, and the southwest is The Maze.

January 17, 2019March 27, 2019

Your Guide to Capitol Reef National Park

Don’t let the name fool you; Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park is not a water park. It’s the site of a nearly 100-mile long uplift in the ground—called a waterpocket fold—that has eroded over the last 50 million years creating a spectacular ridge of cliffs in south-central Utah. Visitors come to the park to marvel at the bluffs along its 8-mile Scenic Drive, hike secluded desert trails, and get a glimpse of what life was like for the settlers who made a home along the Fremont River a hundred years ago. In the past, the other Utah national parks often overshadowed Capitol Reef; now, it has a reputation of its own as a world-class outdoor destination with over one million people visiting each year.

January 10, 2019March 27, 2019

Your Guide to Bryce Canyon National Park

It would be hard to overstate how impressive the view of Bryce Canyon is from the rim the first time you see it. Our reaction was similar to when we first saw the Grand Canyon: stunned silence. Standing at the rim, watching the shadows of puffy clouds race across thousands of reddish-brown hoodoos in the canyon’s amphitheater, you quickly understand why Bryce is so popular.

November 22, 2018October 20, 2020

Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Hotel

The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park opened in 1927 as people were beginning to flock to our country’s incredible public lands and wanted accommodations that matched the splendor of those natural places. Nestled into Yosemite Valley, its stone exterior blends seamlessly into the surrounding granite cliffs.

November 19, 2018March 27, 2019

El Tovar Hotel, Grand Canyon National Park

The Grand Canyon’s historic El Tovar Hotel sits about a hundred feet from one of the grandest natural views in the world: the overlook into the canyon from the South Rim. In 1903, President Roosevelt visited the Grand Canyon, and in a speech, he implored onlookers to leave the area as it was, unspoiled. He was concerned that any building, even the smallest cottage, would mar the beauty of the canyon.

October 31, 2018March 27, 2019

Guadalupe Mountains National Park – The Top of Texas

A trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park is the perfect complement to visiting Big Bend National Park, which is less than a four-hour drive away, or Carlsbad Caverns National Park, only 30 miles away. The park sits on the northern border of the state and boasts the highest point in Texas: Guadalupe Peak (locals call it Guad Peak) at 8,749 feet above sea level. We’ve been to the park twice, once in May and once in October, and found both spring and fall were great times to visit.