Articles tagged as National Parks | Smithsonian Magazine

‘Staggering’ Damage to Florida’s Everglades Remains in the Wake of Hurricane Irma

Researchers found gaps in 40 percent of the forest canopy in aerial images taken before and after the storm

April 20, 2018

Nizina Glacier became more accessible to paddlers around 2000, when melting ice formed a lake on which float-planes could land.

A Daring Journey Into the Big Unknown of America’s Largest National Park

If dangling from a rope inside a melting glacier is your idea of a vacation, then come with us to Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias

May 2018

Take a Last Look at Washington, D.C.’s Cherry Blossoms (Photos)

See them while you can

April 13, 2018

The towering, 2,500-year-old “Mother of the Forest” (second from left) died after its bark was stripped for display in New York in 1855.

How California’s Giant Sequoias Tell the Story of Americans’ Conflicted Relationship With Nature

In the mid-19th century, “Big Tree mania” spread across the country and our love for the trees has never abated

April 2018

The quolls say: Please reintroduce us, please.

Wiped out by a mystery disease and non-native foxes, the spotted, cat-sized predator is being reintroduced in Booderee National Park

March 16, 2018

Synchronous fireflies flash in harmony in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.

These Were America’s Most-Visited National Parks in 2017

Of the National Park Service’s 417 sites, 385 keep track of their park visitors

March 2, 2018

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park gives a view of Neníisótoyóú’u (Longs Peak) in Colorado, left of center.

Cool Finds

This Account is Reclaiming the Indigenous Names for Mountains One Geotag at a Time

A Navajo climber is leading a social media campaign to spread awareness of the indigenous names of peaks

February 22, 2018

Spurred by the donation of 1 million acres of privately owned land, the country is adding two national parks to its system

Updated: January 30, 2018 | Originally Published: March 20, 2017

This dinosaur footprint was found in sandstone at Dinosaur Track at Hackberry Canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National. A proclamation recently signed by President Trump would reduce the protected area by half.

What Shrinking Fossil-Rich National Monuments Means for Science

Smithsonian.com asks paleontologists how their work will change after the decision to slash Bears Ears and Grand Staircase

December 18, 2017

Grizzly bears are a common sight in the park.

Photos Offer a Glimpse Into the Wild Corners of America’s Northernmost National Park

In his upcoming book, author Joe Wilkins gives an insider’s perspective of Gates of the Arctic

December 14, 2017

The president is reducing two massive National Monuments by millions of acres. Read the context behind the decision and what to expect going forward

December 6, 2017

The Snowmobile Changed How Americans Did Winter

As the cold comes in, snowbound communities are tuning up their vehicles and recreationists are making speedy winter plans

December 4, 2017

Australia Will Ban Climbing Uluru, a Sacred Indigenous Site, in 2019

The long-awaited move honors Anangu beliefs, which hold that ancestral beings reside inside the rock

November 1, 2017

A foggy morning at the Lower Fall in Yellowstone National Park with the sun rising on the waterfall.

The National Park Service Is Proposing Entrance Fee Increases at Select Parks

The NPS says it need to address a maintenance backlog, and has opened the proposal up to a 30-day public comment period

October 25, 2017

Of the roughly 900,000 Rocky Mountain elk in North America, some 20,000 migrate through the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Photos Document Dramatic Wildlife Migrations Across Yellowstone

A new book documents the growing challenges faced by wildlife as they migrate across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

October 25, 2017

There’s no need to worry: It’s unlikely it will blow anytime soon

October 23, 2017

Google Trekker in Quttinirpaaq National Park

Cool Finds

Now You Can Virtually Visit Quttinirpaaq National Park, One of the Most Remote Places on Earth

Google Street Views records the wonders of the northerly jewel

October 18, 2017

A 2014 eruption of Old Faithful, one of its many consistent outbursts

Geologists Map the Plumbing Beneath Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Geyser

Without turning over a stone, geologists imaged the subsurface supply for this iconic geyser

October 11, 2017

The Abajo Mountains in Bears Ears National Monument

The review, which has been leaked, also suggests changes in uses and/or management of several other monuments

Updated: September 18, 2017 | Originally Published: August 24, 2017

In an era of rapid change, the managers of our nation's wild spaces are asking: What counts as natural anymore?

The National Parks Face a Looming Existential Crisis

Political uncertainty and a changing climate converge to forge the park system’s biggest challenge yet

September 14, 2017