National Parks Traveler Podcast
297 episodes - English - Latest episode: 15 days ago - ★★★★★ - 102 ratingsNational Parks Traveler is the world's top-rated, editorially independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas on a daily basis.
Traveler offers readers and listeners a unique multimedia blend of news, feature content, debate, and discussion all tied to national parks and protected areas.
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Episodes
National Parks Traveler: Acadia's Friends
August 28, 2022 12:00 - 46 minutes - 107 MBIt’s been said time and again, the National Park Service is not adequately funded. There’s just not enough money in the agency’s annual budgets to address all the needs across the National Park System. And those needs are many, from maintaining facilities, keeping wastewater treatment plans operating smoothly, managing wildlife, and tending to ever growing throngs of visitors. That’s where friends groups and cooperating associations come into play. They provide much-needed financial support ...
National Parks Traveler: Is Recreation.gov Exclusionary?
August 21, 2022 12:00 - 42 minutes - 99.1 MBAs the inscription on the Roosevelt Arch at the north entrance into Yellowstone National Park reminds us, the national parks are for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. They are wild, scenic, and historic spaces that belong to all of us. But are they in reality exclusive places with reservation systems that aren’t providing equitable access to the diverse population wishing to use parks? Our guest this week is Dr. Will Rice from the University of Montana, and he has some thoughts a...
National Parks Traveler: Adventuring To Alaska's Parks
August 14, 2022 12:00 - 45 minutes - 104 MBAlaska is a big state, and within that big state are 17 units of the National Park System spanning more than 100 million acres. Denali, Glacier Bay, Kenai Fjords, Katmai, Wrangell-St. Elias are just some of those units. But if you want to visit the parks in Alaska, how do you decide which ones to explore? Contributing editor Kim O'Connell recently spent 10 days in Alaska with her family, and is here to discuss her travels in Denali and Kenai Fjords and offer some suggestions on how to decide...
Audio Postcard From The Parks: The Shadow Mountain Lookout
August 10, 2022 07:30 - 7 minutes - 17.2 MBOn the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, in an opening in the piney forest, stands a fire lookout built in the 1930s. The Shadow Mountain Lookout is the only lookout remaining in the park. During a recent visit to Rocky Mountain, I followed the 5-mile-long trail to the lookout, where I ran into Barbara and John Varian and discussed both the hike and the lookout with them.
National Parks Traveler: Recovering Yellowstone
August 07, 2022 12:00 - 38 minutes - 90.2 MBClimate change is materializing in various ways across the National Park System. Houses have been falling into the Atlantic at Cape Hatteras National Seashore as a result of sea level rise and shifting of the barrier island, wildfires have been raging through Sequoia, Yosemite, and Lassen Volcanic national parks, just to name three units impacted by fire, and flooding has unexpectedly become a major force at Yellowstone National Park. It’s been just about two months since catastrophic floo...
National Parks Traveler Episode 181: Musical Kīlauea
July 31, 2022 12:00 - 40 minutes - 94.2 MBIf you’re interested in volcanoes, you need not go further than our national parks to get your fill. Eighty-four units of the National Park System have volcanic resources. These parks run the gamut of having very active volcanic features to those where volcanoes formed the landscape and contribute to the geodiversity of the park. The most active volcano in our park system is Kīlauea in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. It’s also one of the most monitored and rese...
National Parks Traveler|Homestead National Historical Park
July 24, 2022 12:00 - 39 minutes - 89.8 MBHomestead National Historical Park near Beatrice, Nebraska, isn’t that big, just 211 acres, but as the saying goes, it plays much, much bigger. Here you’ll find the National Museum on Homesteading, historic buildings including the Palmer-Epard log cabin that despite its small size – just 14 feet by 16 feet – was home to a family of 12, along with agricultural equipment, genealogy research opportunities, an education center, hiking trails through 100 acres of restored tallgrass prairie and a ...
National Parks Traveler | Exploring Fort Larned National Historic Site
July 17, 2022 12:00 - 46 minutes - 106 MBThe beauty of the National Park System is that there are more than 400 units that you can choose to visit, and each has a unique perspective showcasing the United States’ history, natural beauty, or cultural richness. Fort Larned is the best-preserved Civil War-era fort in the National Park System and has more than a few stories held in the stone walls of its barracks, officers’ quarters, commissary, and other buildings.
Audio Postcards From The Parks: Stitching National Parks Together
July 14, 2022 07:30 - 10 minutes - 24.7 MBThough Nancy Hershberger might be dismissed by "traditional" quilters, her patchwork designs capture a setting deserving a spot in an art gallery, or a wall in your home. True, her quilts won't cover your bed or keep you physically warm on a cold night. But they likely will bring a knowing smile to your face and possibly remind you of a place in time from your wanderings through the National Park System.
National Parks Traveler |Walking Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
July 10, 2022 12:00 - 53 minutes - 122 MBThere are 423 units in the National Park System, but a surprising number of people focus on about two dozen parks. Last year, when roughly 300 million visited the park system, just 25 units – the Yellowstones, Grand Canyon’s, Zions, Cape Cods, Blue Ridge Parkways – got 50 percent of the traffic. There are so many overlooked units in the National Park System worthy of a visit. They might not be your final destination, but they’re certainly worth becoming a destination on your traveling itiner...
National Parks Traveler| Walking The Oregon Trail At Scotts Bluff
July 03, 2022 12:00 - 32 minutes - 74.4 MBThe Oregon Trail stretched roughly 2,170 miles from Missouri to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It rambled across prairie, sagebrush desert and mountains. From the 1840s into the 1880s, hundreds of thousands of immigrants made the challenging journey, and not all survived. Today more than 120 historic sites, auto tour routes, and markers show us where the Oregon Trail traveled. One of the choke points, if you will, is in western Nebraska at a place preserved today as Scotts Bluff National Monu...
Audio Postcard From The Parks | Sea Kayaking Jackson Lake At Grand Teton
June 29, 2022 07:30 - 3 minutes - 8.93 MBThere really are few days that aren't great for paddling on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park, whether you're in a canoe or a sea kayak. During a short getaway in early June my wife and I did just that. Embed the picture that accompanies this post in your mind, then listen as I paddle the lake and describe the setting.
National Parks Traveler Podcast - Episode 176
June 26, 2022 12:00 - 41 minutes - 96.1 MBNPT Ep 176 Spot List - Run Time - 41:40 :02 National Parks Traveler introduction :12 Episode Intro with Lynn Riddick :34 The Road Scholar - Bill Mize - The Spirit of South Dakota :44 Eastern National Passport 1:27 Interior Federal Credit Union 1:45 Washington’s National Park Fund 2:18 Wild Tribute 2:39 Great Smoky Mountains Association 3:04 Kurt’s Travels with Lynn Riddick 28:33 Black Woods - Nature’s Symphony - The Sounds of Acadia 28:54 Grand Teton National Park Foundation 29:...
National Parks Traveler: Surviving The Covid Pandemic At Yosemite
June 19, 2022 12:00 - 33 minutes - 76.4 MBThe impact of the Covid shutdown in the National Park System is well-known, and we regret that many park-related businesses in the gateway communities may not have made it. The National Parks Traveler circled back to one particular business that we had featured in an article in May 2020 –- Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides. -- to see how it has fared ever since.
National Parks Traveler | Listening To The Parks
June 12, 2022 12:00 - 35 minutes - 82 MBWaking up in the middle of the night in the backcountry of a national park can often be an interesting, or even unnerving, experience. What was it that caused you to wakeup? Fourteen years ago, deep in the interior of Yellowstone National Park it was the howling of a wolf that woke me, and when I think about it, it still seems like it was just yesterday. The melodic howl hung in the air, seesawing up and down as the wolf sang his song. We go into national parks to view spectacular scenery,...
National Parks Traveler | Birding In The National Parks
June 05, 2022 12:00 - 57 minutes - 133 MBThe natural and wild environments of our national parks offer the unsurpassed protection and diverse ecosystems that birds need to thrive. And that makes our parks equally great places for you to see birds. This week the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick talks to birding expert Nicholas Lund of Maine Audubon, who believes that whether you consider yourself a full-fledged birder or just someone who simply likes birds, when it comes to our national parks, there’s always a bird in the air, in a tree or a...
National Parks Traveler | What Parks Will You Visit This Summer?
May 29, 2022 12:00 - 44 minutes - 103 MBMemorial Day Weekend is the official kickoff to summer. There’s no doubt that many of us have already been to a unit of the National Park System in 2022, but this weekend is the traditional kickoff to venturing into the park system. If you don’t know where to go, or what to do, I’ve invited Kim O’Connell, a contributing writer at the Traveler, and Lynn Riddick, our masterful podcaster, to help sort through the options.
National Parks Traveler| Battling Politics In The Parks
May 22, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 173 MBNational Parks probably have never been entirely immune from political influences, whether they came out of Washington, D.C., or close to a park’s boundaries. But there’s an argument that can be made, one backed up by evidence, that the past 50 years have seen the most attempts to subvert the mission of the National Park Service to preserve and protect natural resources unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. Jon Jarvis, the 18th director of the National Park Service under Pres...
National Parks Traveler| The National Park System's Crippling Maintenance Backlog
May 15, 2022 12:00 - 55 minutes - 127 MBA new figure -- $21.8 billion -- has been attached to the National Park System's maintenance backlog. How will Congress react to that figure just a couple years after being told the number was around $13 billion?
National Parks Traveler: Music Inspired By The Parks
May 08, 2022 12:00 - 49 minutes - 114 MBNational parks inspire a lot of things, from great adventures and beautiful landscape paintings to the names of cars and trucks to even music. In this week's podcast we invite you to tap your feet to the music as Lynn Riddick shares the stories of two vbands whose monikers and tunes are inspired by the national parks: National Park Radio, and the National Parks.
National Parks Traveler: A Conversation With Everglades National Park Superintendent Pedro Ramos
May 01, 2022 12:00 - 30 minutes - 70.9 MBEverglades National Park very easily can be viewed as the poster child for invasive species. It’s infested with non-native Burmese pythons, Argentine black and white tegus are making inroads, there is invasive vegetation like Melaleuca and Brazilian pepper, and nonnative fish are making their way into the park’s ecosystems. Kurt Repanshek, editor of the National Parks Traveler, recently had a chance to sit down with Pedro Ramos, superintendent of Everglades National Park, to discuss the ba...
Audio Postcards from the Parks: The Anhinga Trail At Everglades National Park
April 27, 2022 08:00 - 6 minutes - 15.5 MBOne trail you must take when you visit Everglades National Park is the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm. You'll find a short boardwalk that takes you out over the waters of Taylor Slough and quickly discover that the mangroves and other trees that rise above the water are popular with anhingas, one of the park's most popular birds.
National Parks Traveler: Glen Canyon NRA's Thirst For Water
April 24, 2022 12:00 - 38 minutes - 89.8 MBLake Powell long has been the shimmering heart of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah and Arizona, but it’s not the only asset of the NRA that covers 1.25 million acres. This is Kurt Repanshek, your host at the National Parks Traveler. Last year I had the good fortune to visit Glen Canyon NRA twice –- once in May to kayak Lake Powell -- and then in July when I backpacked into the park’s backcountry to not just admire its beauty but watch efforts to reverse the spread of invasive ...
National Parks Traveler: Slogging Through A Cypress Dome At Everglades
April 17, 2022 12:00 - 35 minutes - 81.6 MBA great way to experience Everglades National Park is to go on a "slough slog" into a cypress dome. Ranger Yvette Cano led National Parks Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek on such a wet hike in search of a gator hole.
National Parks Traveler: Visiting Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, Part 2
April 10, 2022 12:00 - 49 minutes - 114 MBLyndon Baines Johnson had a staggering impact on the United States during his time as president. Much of his approach to government was instilled during his early life in Texas. In this, part two of her podcast on the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, the Traveler's Lynn Riddick visits the president's boyhood home and ranch. The LBJ Ranch was where he was born, lived, died, and was buried.
National Parks Traveler: Visiting LBJ National Historical Park, Part 1
April 03, 2022 12:00 - 43 minutes - 101 MBThose who have ascended to the presidency of the United States are products of the environments in which they were born, raised, and educated. Their early experiences usually have a significant effect on how they manage their presidency and the subsequent policy and programs developed under their watch. Lyndon Baines Johnson is a fitting example of that. His presidency was guided in full measure by his upbringing, his personal experiences with poverty and shame and his observation of rac...
National Parks Traveler: Exploring Padre Island National Seashore
March 27, 2022 12:00 - 48 minutes - 110 MBSome 615,000 visitors a year flock to the hard-packed gray sands of Padre Island National Seashore along the Gulf Coast of Texas. This undeveloped national seashore boasts an abundance of natural wonders in its tidal flats, dunes and grasslands. Ample solitude can be found on it 65-mile stretch of beach, including 60 miles that are only accessible by four-wheel drive. The Traveler’s Lynn Riddick takes an in-depth look at Padre Island National Seashore and finds that not only is it a popula...
National Parks Traveler: Saving Everglades' Cape Sable
March 20, 2022 12:00 - 42 minutes - 97.7 MBNear the very tip of Everglades National Park, the interior wetlands of Cape Sable have long been viewed as one of the most ecologically productive environments left in Florida. It could become even more so thanks to an upcoming restoration project. Dr. Jerry Lorenz, head of Audubon's Everglades Science Center, explains the project.
National Parks Traveler: In Search Of A National Biodiversity Strategy
March 13, 2022 13:00 - 49 minutes - 114 MBNearly 200 countries have developed various forms of biodiversity strategies, but the United States is not one of them. What exactly would a "national biodiversity strategy" look like? What would it entail? To explore those, and other, questions about biodiversity we’re joined by Robert Dewey, vice president of government relations at Defenders of Wildlife, and Lindsay Rosa, who directs Defenders’ center for conservation innovation.
National Parks Traveler: Cape Hatteras' Crowds And Collapsing Houses
March 06, 2022 13:00 - 44 minutes - 102 MBFrom coast to coast, national parks, national forests, and state parks are being crowded, if not overrun at times, by visitors. One part of the country that has seen record-breaking visitation has been the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and the Wright Brothers Memorial combined welcomed nearly 4 million visitors last year. National Parks of Eastern North Carolina Superintendent Dave Hallec discuss that record vi...
National Parks Traveler: Seeking Official Wilderness In Big Bend
February 27, 2022 13:00 - 50 minutes - 116 MBAcross the roughly 85-million-acre National Park System there are, in theory at least, some 70 million acres envisioned as official wilderness. Forty-four million acres have received Congressional blessing as such, while another 26 million acres are in something akin to administrative limbo. Some of those 26 million acres -- including roughly two-thirds of Big Bend National Park -- have been recommended for official wilderness designation...and seen that recommendation languish. There's an...
National Parks Traveler: Fleeing National Park Crowds
February 20, 2022 13:00 - 45 minutes - 105 MBHow many are too many? That’s the question to mull in the wake of news from the National Park Service that nearly 300 million visited the National Park System last year. What is the perfect number for annual visitation to the park system’s 423 units? To help sort out the pluses and minuses of 300 million visitors a year to the park system, and to offer you some suggestions for escaping the crowds, we’ve asked Becky Lomax, author of USA National Parks, The Complete Guide To All 63 Parks ...
National Parks Traveler: America's Bison
February 13, 2022 13:00 - 50 minutes - 116 MBShould Yellowstone National Park have more bison, should it have less? Just recently the park embarked on an environmental impact statement to examine that question. Dr. James Derr, a professor of veterinary genetics at Texas A&M University who has spent more than a quarter century directing worldwide research projects in wildlife and livestock conservation genetics, discusses bison in Yellowstone and elsewhere on public lands.
National Parks Traveler: RVing Through The National Park System
February 06, 2022 13:00 - 35 minutes - 82.2 MBRVing –- traveling by recreational vehicle –- has exploded along with the coronavirus pandemic. Sales have gone through the roof, inventory has been depleted, and would-be customers often have to wait months before they can hit the road with their new rig. Many, if not most, of those RV enthusiasts are heading into the National Park System. And why not? Gorgeous scenery, inspiring landscapes, relaxation. But it’s not as simple as it used to be because of that rush to hit the road with your...
National Parks Traveler: How To Expand Eastern Parks
January 30, 2022 13:00 - 50 minutes - 116 MBWith the great rush to the outdoors that we’ve seen since the Covid pandemic erupted, there have been many calls for more space in the National Park System. While there are places in the West that seem to be logical additions to the parks there, that's not the case in the East. So, if we want more park lands east of the Mississippi, how could we gain them?
National Parks Traveler: Chasing The Smokies Moon
January 23, 2022 13:00 - 43 minutes - 100 MBGreat Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the great hiking destinations in the mid-Atlantic region, if not the entire East Coast. Across its rumpled 522,427 acres there are more than 800 miles of trails. They range from relatively short footpaths to scenic payoffs like Rainbow Falls and Abrahams Falls to the more than 70 miles of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail that crosses the top of the park. Nancy East is well familiar with the park’s trail network, as she and a close friend set...
National Parks Traveler: Managing Elk And Cattle At Point Reyes
January 16, 2022 13:00 - 39 minutes - 90.4 MBAll is not well at Point Reyes National Seashore, as a years-long battle continues over ranching at Point Reyes, how it’s impacting the seashore’s environment, and how the National Park Service is trying to manage it. To sort through some of these issues, we’re joined by Laura Cunningham, California director at Western Watersheds Project.
National Parks Traveler: Exploring Big Bend And Chuck Sams
January 09, 2022 13:00 - 36 minutes - 85.4 MBLast week the National Parks Traveler took you to Big Bend National Park in far west Texas with a discussion with Chief of Interpretation Tom Vandenberg. This week, Traveler's Lynn Riddick provides a first-hand, more personal glimpse into this vast remote park. Afterwards, Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek shares a short conversation he had with Charles Sams, the new director of the National Park Service.
National Parks Traveler: Understanding Big Bend National Park
January 02, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 153 MBThe National Parks Traveler’s Lynn Riddick begins a two-part series about her recent trip to Big Bend -- a vast wilderness in the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande. She meets up with the park’s chief of interpretation, who offers an overview of the park’s varied geology and diverse ecology, its human history and what the future may hold for visitors seeking adventure and solitude in the park’s 800,000 acres.
National Parks Traveler | 2021's Major News Stories From The Parks
December 26, 2021 13:00 - 59 minutes - 138 MBThis has been one of the most newsworthy years in recent memory for the National Park Service and the parks. There’s finally a Senate-confirmed director at the helm, billions of dollars are flowing into the parks for a variety of projects, wildfires chewed through Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Lassen Volcanic national parks, lakes Powell and Mead are shadows of their former selves. A look back at news in the National Park System in 2021.
National Parks Traveler | A conservation conversation with Kristine Tompkins
December 19, 2021 13:00 - 49 minutes - 115 MBAs the global human population continues to increase, as sprawl continues to wash over natural areas, the amount of space needed for flora and fauna to thrive and, even, in some cases, survive, is steadily being squeezed by the human footprint. Kristine Tompkins knows a little about protecting landscapes for nature. She and her late husband, Doug Tompkins, donated more than 2 million acres in Chile and Argentina to those two countries, which in turn were able to create 13 national parks.
Traveler's Postcards From The Parks: Hiking Kīlauea Iki Trail At Hawaii Volcanoes
December 15, 2021 09:00 - 4 minutes - 11 MBWhen you visit Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, after you’ve gazed into the Kīlauea crater itself if it’s erupting, you should make a point to hike the Kīlauea Iki Trail. Starting from an overlook near Nāhuku (aka the Thurston Lava Tube), the trail goes down through the rainforest and out across a crater floor created back in 1959 by one of the most spectacular eruptions of the 20th century at the national park.
National Parks Traveler | Hiking Yosemite
December 12, 2021 13:00 - 43 minutes - 100 MBThere is no shortage of hiking trails in the National Park System. From coastal walks and boardwalk trails to trails that run the ridges of the Teton Crest Trail in Grand Teton National Park and the wildly popular hike to the top of Old Rag in Shenandoah National Park, the options can be overwhelming even if you had endless time to explore the parks. It might come as a surprise to those who view Yosemite National Park as an iconic valley and a grove of soaring sequoias, but there are more ...
National Parks Traveler | A Pleistocene Burial Ground
December 05, 2021 13:00 - 51 minutes - 119 MBCamels, lions, and mammoths once roamed the landscape around Las Vegas, Nevada. Such was the case during the latter part of the Pleistocene era, which spanned a period of time between 11,000 years and 2.5 million years ago. The area -- known as the Upper Las Vegas Wash –- is rich with the fossils of these and many more creatures as well as ancient plants and pollens. This trove of fossils is preserved within Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. Lynn Riddick talks with Tule Springs S...
National Parks Traveler: Rick Ridgeway's Life Lived Wild
November 28, 2021 13:00 - 49 minutes - 114 MBToday we’re talking adventures, friendships, and the environment with Rick Ridgeway, who has traveled the world seeking adventure and, along the way, debated and discussed environmental consciousness with his friends, colleagues and peers. Rick, a climber, kayaker, explorer, filmmaker, and thoughtful writer, has a new book out, Life Lived Wild, that chronicles many of the adventures he’s embarked upon the past five decades or so.
National Parks Traveler Podcast: Exploring Night Skies Over The Parks
November 21, 2021 13:00 - 54 minutes - 126 MBIt’s been said that the night sky represents the other half of the National Park System. It’s in the national parks where you can experience some of the darkest skies you’ll find anywhere. Our guest this week knows all about that. Artist, author, astronomer and Night Sky Ambassador Doctor Tyler Nordgren talks with the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick about the cosmic opportunity that the parks offer to teach the public about astronomy.
Traveler's Audio Postcard From The Parks: Feral Hogs
November 17, 2021 10:00 - 6 minutes - 15.4 MBFeral hogs are just one of several species of invasive mammals that are posing immense challenges for national park managers. Unlike invasive insects or reptiles, invasive mammals are often larger and more “charismatic” animals, difficult for parks to eradicate from a logistical, financial, and emotional perspective.
National Parks Traveler | Kīlauea Erupting
November 14, 2021 13:00 - 31 minutes - 72 MBEnter the National Park System and you won’t come away disappointed when you realize all that awaits you. At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, it’s impossible not to be awed by the volcanism that created the Hawaiian islands, and which is on full display at the crater atop the Kīlauea volcano. Jessica Ferracane, the park’s public affairs specialist, gave me a primer on Kīlauea during an early November visit. Her broad knowledge of the park and its two volcanoes and enthusiasm in discussing a...
National Parks Traveler: Now Is The Time For The Traveler
November 07, 2021 12:00 - 49 minutes - 114 MBThe national parks have never been more popular...or more threatened. Now through the end of the year, we are asking for your support for a fundraising campaign to ensure the National Parks Traveler’s ongoing coverage of national parks and protected areas.
National Parks Traveler | Grand Teton's Crowds
October 31, 2021 12:00 - 48 minutes - 112 MBFor Grand Teton National Park, this year has, to put it bluntly, been crazy busy. In September the park counted 570,584 visitors, the second-highest tally for that month in park history. Notably, it pushed the park’s year-to-date visitation to 3,493,937, a record for an entire year, and with October, November, and December to go. Grand Teton Superintendent Chip Jenkins discusses the impacts of that visitation.