News and Events

Thousands of luminous insects blinking in unison will light up Congaree National Park this May—and reservations to see them are limited. Here’s how to get on the list.

Lack of employee housing is a critical issue in national parks across the United States, and a super-size gift from an unidentified donor may help Yellowstone tackle it.

In a normal year, Hot Springs’s Appalachian TrailFest is the second-largest gathering on the AT. But with just weeks to go, organizers have canceled it for unclear reasons.

Here's the data from every satellite SOS that Garmin inReach fielded last year.

State legislators in Hawaii are fast-tracking a bill that would authorize the state to seek reimbursement from hikers who need rescue after venturing onto closed trails. But not everyone agrees it’s the right move.

Last year was the National Park Service’s busiest season since 2017, with visitors hitting smaller parks and traveling during the off-season.

A recent SAR communique reams out an incautious adventurer who climbed up the peak amid dangerous conditions and then called for emergency lifesaving

Last August, a "1,000-year" rain event wiped out roads, stranded hikers, and created a brand-new lake in Death Valley National Park. Less than six months later, the park is reeling from another storm.

The inaugural gathering is headlined by Fleet Foxes, Thundercat, Lettuce, Andrew Bird, Say She She, and The Heavy Heavy, with more performances to be announced soon.

For now, Mystery Ranch will continue to operate from its headquarters in Bozeman, Montana.

The Conservation Fund will turn over 3,654-acre Richmond Ranch to local government and plans to add miles of hiking trails to the parcel.

Two years after putting a pilot ticketing program in place for the popular hike up Old Rag, Shenandoah National Park announced it would permanently require hikers to have permits.

Christopher "Rafiki" Roma, a Triple Crown thru-hiker, guiding company owner, and prominent member of the New Hampshire hiking community, encountered harsh weather while hiking a long route in the mountains.

Rainier will join other popular national parks like Glacier, Rocky Mountain, and Arches in implementing a new timed-entry system for the park's most popular entrances.

A rescue crew who found the deceased hiker got benighted after dangerous conditions kept them on the mountain after dark.

Four college students from Kentucky scaled a rocky pinnacle in search of a perfect campsite. When the weather turned bad and they called for help, it sparked what one SAR member called "one of the most dangerous rescues ever attempted" in the region.

Donner Pass was the site of one of the worst backcountry disasters in American history—but a traveler who got lost there over the weekend fared better.

The retailer launched its “Politics Escape Pack” for hikers who just need a break from the news cycle.

Maine game wardens had to carry two hypothermic hikers out of the forest after a companion alerted authorities to their predicament.

A pre-holiday adventure didn’t go as planned for two hikers near Tampa, who ended up lost in a flooded forest after dark.

From candlelit rambles in the snow to epic treks on the Appalachian Trail, this is how hikers and parks in every state are ringing in the new year. Pick one and start 2025 off in style.

The Pacific Northwest Trail Is the US’s least-developed National Scenic Trail. But a new comprehensive plan could give a boost to efforts to change that.

Quandary Peak was Colorado’s most-hiked high mountain in the early days of the pandemic, but new data suggest that parking restrictions have cut down on crowding.

The North Country Trail, Ice Age Trail, and New England Trail are the newest units of the national park system, a move that supporters hope will help them close gaps in the routes.

When Apple introduced the ability to automatically call for help via satellite in 2022, critics feared it would encourage hikers to be reckless. But a year later, one of the United States’ busiest search and rescue outfits is praising it—and other new safety tech from the company—as a “game changer.”

Our new weekly discussion program covers outdoor recreation and adventure

Celebrate Giving Tuesday by supporting two organizations that are preparing the next generation of outdoor advocates and environmentalists.

The Rich Mountain Fire burned 60 acres, just days after another blaze in the park closed part of the Appalachian Trail.

Miles of the AT and Blue Ridge Parkway have closed over the past week as crews battle blazes in North Carolina and Virginia.

We're going back to our roots—all the way back—by bringing back our original logo from 1973.

Search and rescue officials are urging adventurers to carry appropriate gear after an unprepared hiker nearly died on one of the state’s high mountains.

After discussions about making the system permanent, three of America's most popular national parks are extending their timed entry pilot programs instead.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy announced this week that it had purchased 850 acres of land beneath McAfee Knob, in part using funds from an agreement with the developers of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline.

The ordeal is a reminder to value your own situational awareness over what Big Tech may tell you about a trail.

After otters bit three wild swimmers in the Sierra, state wildlife officials are urging caution.

National Park Service encourages hikers to avoid Whiteoak Canyon and Old Rag due to poor air quality.

A video of eight-legged creepy-crawlies clustering on a backpacker’s tent in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve last month had arachnophobic hikers vowing to stay a thousand miles away. But look a little closer, and you might just gain a new appreciation for the Alaskan wilderness.

The Southern Sierra’s record snowpack may have contributed to a deadly accident on 14,505-foot Mount Whitney this month.

One of the hottest, driest places in the world has a brand-new lake festooned with wildflowers—but park officials say it won't be around for long.

A draft plan would introduce 3 to 7 bears per year into the North Cascades over the next decade.

In a new social media post, the National Park Service said the trend threatens to harm California condors, one of the rarest birds in the United States.

Signed into law earlier this week, Assembly Bill 618 aims to make it easier for campers to snag a site—and will allow the state to punish visitors who don’t call to cancel.

After Oregon agreed to provide wolves to Colorado, state officials say they will be ready to begin releasing the animals between late 2023 and early 2024.

Officials found the victims on Saturday morning and euthanized a bear that exhibited aggressive behavior

Veteran hikers call it the “Middle Blues.” You have already hiked an impossibly long distance, and somehow still have an impossibly long distance to go.

A bizarre rescue in Michigan has eerie similarities to a 2022 incident in Washington State

This month, nonprofit The Conservation Fund announced it had acquired 300 acres of land on Colorado’s popular Mt. Democrat, permanently opening it to hikers after a series of closures. But the future of its neighboring mountains is anything but certain.

"When you have a very fat 400-pound bear, it will take it ages to starve to death. That’s a horrific way to die, decaying from the inside out."

The top nonprofits win a customized Land Rover Defender 130 and a pile of cash. Cast your vote starting on September 15 to help choose this year’s winners.

Late season snow damaged trails and delayed start to the season, pushing hikers into hotter summer conditions

As rutting season begins, officials warn hikers to take extra caution around the wildlife.

In July, Colorado’s popular Decalibron Loop, a 7.5-mile trail that crosses private property to tag multiple Fourteeners, reopened to hikers after a months-long closure over liability concerns. Last week, someone got their pickup truck stuck on it.

Usually, viewers on Explore.org's Katmai National Park live streams expect to see giant grizzlies and wide-open natural views. But on September 5, a wet and cold-looking hiker walked up to the camera and appeared to mouth "help."

Authorities used DNA analysis and "other characteristics" to identify the bruin after the incident.

Heavy precipitation left some of the park’s key roads in tatters.

Despite record snowpack and extreme heat, the ultrarunning dentist shaved over five days off the previous record.

Heavy rainfall led to flash flooding in Bryce Canyon National Park and a canyon northeast of Moab, with disastrous consequences for hikers.

As the remnants of Hilary moved inland, floods trapped visitors and boosted flood risk across the southwestern US.

The park announced that rangers had found "evidence of a black bear's presence" on top of the famous summit.

The cause of death has not yet been released.

The draft management plan proposes preservation methods for the Appalachian Trail's Triple Crown in Virginia.

Karel Sabbe just blasted through California's section of the PCT—will he set a new FKT for the whole trail?

A proposed change in how Zion handles backcountry permits could raise prices for some groups by more than 400 percent—but solo hikers would get a break.

What do winners of the Defender Service Awards have in common? They make the world a better place, and now Land Rover is helping them do it.

Wildlife officials blame Hank the Tank and her three cubs for dozens of burglaries. Now, with her death sentence commuted, she'll spend the rest of her days in a Colorado wildlife refuge.

These are some of the best ways to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch Maine on your next adventure

Girard Ridge and its surrounding terrain will become part of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

When a court struck down the public’s right to wild camp in Dartmoor National Park in January, hikers lost the only place in England where they could dispersed camp without getting the owner’s permission first. Now, an appeals court has given it back to them.

Robert “Steady Eddie” Kerker appears to have gotten caught in a swollen waterway during the historic floods that hit Vermont in July

Mud-choked paths, damaged bridges, and trail communities cleaning up from some of the worst flooding in Vermont history have AT hikers wondering if they should skip the state for now.

Wildlife officers are looking for the bear and cub involved after a hiker found the victim’s body in a popular hiking and off-roading area.

The heat was so extreme that a rescue helicopter couldn’t even fly to the site of the incident.

The granola brand bolsters naked hiking communities with a system to review the country’s top nude hikes

In a viral PSA, Yosemite National Park urged hikers to knock over rock cairns. Days later, staff at Canyonlands and Arches asked hikers not to. What's a backpacker to do?

Live electric wires and bridge damage are among the hazards that trail crews have found so far—but it’s not all bad news.

Visits to one popular Colorado fourteener have declined by more than half since 2020.

Authorities are trying to determine what caused the deaths of three "mummified" people found in a remote campsite near Gunnison this week.

The death is the third snow-related fatality that local search and rescue has responded to over the past three weeks.

With the Sierra’s record snowpack beginning to melt, swarms of the biting insects are coming out en masse. For hikers, that could be a nuisance.

America's oldest national park is only getting more popular—but hiring staffers and keeping them on the payroll has been difficult.