national parks

Fat Bear Week has come and gone, with a bear known as 480 Otis becoming the most. “Brown bears are hibernators, so they will sometimes go as much as 6 months without eating, drinking, urinating, defecating. And they’re surviving on their fat reserves…they need to eat a year’s worth of food in fewer than 6 months,” says Mike Fitz, a...

Noreen Wredberg, of California, gets to keep the gem she discovered in Crater of Diamonds National Park.

California firefighters are wrapping the bases of several sequoias, including the world’s largest tree, in fireproof aluminum blankets as a blaze approaches.

The National Park Service celebrates its 105th anniversary on Aug. 25, and all fee-charging national parks will waive their entrance fees.

With American vacationers congregating in many of the same destinations, some travel spots — even well-known ones — have fewer people than usual.

The spectacular national park, which is “home to steaming fumaroles” and “numerous volcanoes,” is again clear for warm-weather travelers.

Points of interest, interactive maps, and where to find restrooms: Add this app to your phone before visiting one (or all) of America’s treasures.

The glorious gushers put on some of their gushiest best come May. Good to know? Reservations will be required over several 2021 weeks.

DO: have a nature walk and a good time. DO NOT: eat a poisonous mushroom with a rocket fuel ingredient in it.

Watch out if you go mushroom hunting! It may look similar to an edible mushroom, but the “false morel” contains the toxin monomethylhydrazine which is found in rocket fuel. Mycologist Andy Miller from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explains.

The April celebration will include a host of happenings, from learning opportunities to gorgeous hikes; you can enjoy it all from home, too.

The great outdoors has become the great escape during the pandemic.

Face masks are now required in all National Park Service buildings, and on land maintained by the Park Service when physical distancing is not possible, federal officials announced Tuesday.  Visitors and employees must wear masks indoors, plus outdoors on Park Service land when social distancing cannot be maintained, “including [on] narrow or busy trails, overlooks and historic homes,” a...

Looking ahead to future outings? Discover the enter-for-free dates on the parks’ 2021 calendar.

President-elect Joe Biden has decided on the historic choice of Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico to head the Department of the Interior. The appointment would make her the first Native American Cabinet secretary. But why should we care about the Interior secretary? As NBCLX’s Fernando Hurtado explains, this underappreciated federal agency is more important than you think.

Free access to national parks to wounded veterans in New England and California may become a law.

LX News host Tabitha Lipkin takes us along on her adventure to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, which is in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico and features more than 100 caves.

LX News host Tabitha Lipkin took her GoPro camera when she explored the Guadalupe Mountains National Park recently for a story about climate change. Tabitha gives viewers an inside look of her trip and the behind-the-scenes process of crafting a news story.

To see the impact of climate change, the first place to look is the U.S. national parks. LX News host Tabitha Lipkin traveled to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas to see firsthand how its fragile ecosystem is at risk — and how presidential politics will determine the future of some of our country’s most precious resources.