这个暑假，找到属于你的国家公园 - RACHEL LEE HARRIS
Max Whittaker for The New York Times
去年，到美国各国家公园游览的人数创下了纪录。
去年访问国家公园管理局旗下400多个公园、纪念公园、战场遗址、海滩等游览胜地的旅客创下了纪录。据估计，至2016年8月25日管理局迎来成立百年纪念之际，游客数量还将持续上升。
游客人数增加是好事，但是如何分散游客也是个问题，国家公园管理局的发言人凯西·卡帕(Kathy Kupper)在华盛顿接受电话采访时说。
“标志性的公园总是人满为患，但西奥多·罗斯福公园(Theodore Roosevelt)也有大量野生动物，”她提及的国家公园位于北达科塔州，“但人们就是想不到那个地方。”
她说，管理局所辖的历史与文化遗迹也愈来愈多，但同样无人问津。“有很多公园致力于寻找我们集体历史与文化中的空缺。并不是要带走传统公园的游客，但国家公园也并不只是意味着荒郊野地。”
丹·温克(Dan Wenk)是国家公园基金会的临时会长，也是黄石公园的顾问，他认为国家公园可以成为重塑灵性与情感的好地方，“不管是阿尔卡特拉斯还是黄石，”他说，“我都把它们当做一种社会机构，可以向人们讲述各种故事，关于我们的胜利、欢乐、绝望与历史。”他还说，“所以人们同这些公园产生什么样的关系是非常重要的。”
为了巩固这些联系，国家公园管理局与基金会创立了“找到你的公园”(Find Your Park)，这是一个互动网站，可以登记用户的智性、地理与活动偏好，向用户推荐最适合他们的国家公园，并鼓励他们与温克所谓的“类似的心灵”分享在这些公园中的体验。
国家公园管理局致力于进一步扩大数字服务的范围，上个月，管理局首次推出了Instagram账号；此外还推出了一个导航程序，旨在提供数字平台，令每个公园都可以创建自己的移动应用。有些公园已经有了独立于国家公园管理局的移动应用，目前正在增加GPS地图、数字化公园路线导游和小范围活动等服务，进一步完善这些应用。
这些公园的门票价格略有上升，好处是管理和游客中心的水平有了提升，住宿区和徒步保护区有所扩大，特别是骑行区域。在西部的那些标志性公园的所谓“门户”市镇内，有了新的豪华野营选择，有了各种啤酒厂、烈酒厂和各种给孩子们的消遣，让这些“简朴”的地区不那么单调。
国家公园里还有什么新变化？下面是按州列出的精彩名单。你有什么发现也可以在评论中发表意见
亚利桑那
石化林国家公园(Petrified Forest National Park)为公园内的非常规景点制作了自助徒步地图，公园的管理者理查德·阿尔曼(Richard Ullmann)在电子邮件中写道，这也是为了提醒游客们在公园中尽情漫游。“在过去，管理者认为石化木会被偷窃，所以并不总是鼓励游客自行探索”，但是“多年的摄像监控表明绝大多数游客都很自觉”。
旅游路线可以是闲适的漫步，也可以是艰苦的徒步旅行，有可能看到史前岩画、三叠纪针叶植物化石或红盆地(Red Basin)内的化石层，红盆地是公园最新征募的土地。
在8月，一个新成立的、由石化林博物馆协会赞助的田野学会将开始向游人提供课程，由地理学家、考古学家、摄影师和各种专家授课。2016年，公园南北入口将开设电动车辆租赁站。
特拉维罗旅游是一家新的骑行与徒步旅游公司，有豪华露营服务。
加利福尼亚
如果旺季之前丰盛的牛排大餐已经给你端到门口，那你还打算“省吃俭用”吗？沿着热气蒸腾的火山口和沸腾的湖泊徒步了一整天，谁还会想什么节俭呢。这一季，拉森火山国家公园(Lassen Volcanic National Park)内的曼扎尼塔露营内提供新的豪华住宿与晚餐套餐服务，牛排只是其中一项额外服务而已。此外还提供精心烹制的补给品、枕头床垫床铺等各种设施（全套服务100美元起）。
约塞米蒂(Yosemite)国家公园今年正在全面休整。本月该公园内的主要通路泰奥加路(Tioga Road)在大修，主要是修补步行道与路标，增加停车区域，改善厕所。在3月，公园迎来了一群内华达山脉大角羊，多年的拯救濒危物种计划之后，它们终于回到大教堂牧区(Cathedral Range)。公园的安塞尔·亚当斯画廊(Ansel Adams Gallery)内展览这位著名的自然风光摄影师的大量作品，经过重修，安装了全套残疾人便利通道，在四月重新面向公众开放。此外，公园还将推出最新的戏剧活动，演员李·斯泰森(Lee Stetson)饰演国家公园之父约翰·缪尔(John Muir)，在约塞米蒂剧场内现场回答观众关于这个公园及其历史的问题。
科罗拉多
威瑟利尔·梅萨(Wetherill Mesa)是梅萨维德国家公园(Mesa Verde National Park)内较为安静的一侧，今年十月中期，它将迎来繁忙的一季，届时大量骑行者将会前来体验新开的六英里“长屋环道”(Long House Loop)，这条铺设平整的路段原来是供电车使用的，此外在公园最受欢迎的徒步路线的乡间路线中还增加了骑行路线。年内自然也有计划增加现场自行车租赁服务。
寻找化石时采取瑜伽里的“下犬式”可能很不错。在弗洛瑞珊化石带国家保护区(Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument)，会有一个能充任瑜伽教师的公园向导带队做瑜伽徒步，沿途带队员做不同瑜伽体式，这是公园推出的“徒步为健康”(Hikes for Your Health)系列活动之一。
今年夏天，落基山国家公园的百年庆典即告结束，它的登山者口述史特别计划、科罗拉多之风乐团的音乐会与落基庆典艺术邀请展也将告终（6月6日）。
在洛基山公园的门户城镇伊斯泰斯公园(Estes Park)，一年前，本地官员发布了对开放啤酒厂和烈酒厂的规定，现在这些酒厂已经有很多活动了。朗皮峰啤酒公司(Lumpy Ridge Brewing Company)是一个15桶小型啤酒厂，有室内品尝室和天井，将于今年夏天成为首家开张的酒厂，其后还有两个烈酒厂和三家啤酒厂将于今年年底之前开张。
伊斯泰斯公园还将举办两个庆典：5月29至31日的西部节(Wester Days)，用音乐和艺术展览庆祝这一地区的文化遗产，为了增加真实感，还有会绕桶马术比赛；到6月18日至21日，在科罗拉多的福特·科林斯短暂停留后，落基山脉爱尔兰集会将在伊斯泰斯公园再度活跃，带来精彩纷呈的各国乐队演奏、高地舞蹈、家谱探索和一项全新的体育赛事：保龄球。
哥伦比亚特区
全新的、有GPS功能的石溪公园(Rock Creek Park)移动应用正在最后开发阶段，石溪保护区的工作人员说，这款应用有望在公园9月的庆祝125周年庆典时推出。应用中还会有公园地图、步行路线地图和一份活动安排建议，帮你在美国首都纵横交错的路径中找到方向。
夏威夷
夏威夷大岛火山国家公园(Hawaii Volcanoes National Park)在它的纳马卡尼帕伊奥营地提供帐篷和补给出租，从而帮露营者减轻负担。即将成立的夏威夷大岛火山露营公司将开设一个双人露营游，提供一顶帐篷、一块8英寸记忆棉床垫、亚麻床品、一个制冷机、一个灯笼和若干椅子。还可以使用社区焕然一新的厕所，至于厕纸确实是露营中的奢侈品（每顶帐篷租金为40美元，另需付15美元预租露营营地）。
不喜欢露营支帐篷的人可以选择纳马卡尼帕伊奥最近翻新的单间小木屋，它有木地板，全尺寸上下铺床和全尺寸床垫、亚麻床品、毛巾和所有青少年都需要的“救生用品”：电源插座。
想看最近正在爆发的基劳伊亚火山(Kilauea Volcano)怎么办？好消息是，它离露营地不到五英里。公园网站建议到附近的贾加尔博物馆(Jaggar Museum)参观，获取最佳视角。
伊利诺斯
2月，奥巴马总统把普尔曼历史区(Pullman Historic District)列为国家遗迹，于是芝加哥有了第一个国家公园。这是美国最早建立的工业社区，也是第一个非裔美国人工会的诞生地，普尔曼宫汽车公司建筑的遗址是“美国工业发展、工会崛起与劳工运动发人深省的证明，精心的都市化设计具有持久的力量，标志着普尔曼工人向民权运动发展的非凡旅程”，总统在声明中说。
具体安排和公共参观时间还在制定当中，但等不及一睹其历史意义的游客可以到普尔曼历史基金、普尔曼州立历史遗迹或A·菲利普·兰道尔夫·普尔曼工人博物馆参观。
路易斯安纳
不知你在新奥尔良想玩什么，有的人可能去演奏爵士乐，有人可能去上普拉提班。新奥尔良爵士国家历史公园(New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park)现在提供每周的爵士普拉提课，由斯坦芬尼·乔丹(Stephanie Jordan)授课，她是个爵士歌手，也是普拉提教练，把传统练习和舞蹈，以及柯川(Coltrane)和基德·乔丹(Kidd Jordan)等人的音乐结合起来。
受到一月的新奥尔良之战二百周年庆典活动启发，简·拉费蒂国家历史公园与保护区(Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve)正在翻新其教育与青少年游客计划，开设研讨会，研究1815年的生活，活动包括历史游戏、舞蹈、音乐和手工。
缅因
今年秋天，阿卡迪亚国家公园(Acadia National Park)在缅因的斯库迪克半岛开设了一个新的露营地，就在公园最受欢迎的芒特迪瑟特岛(Mount Desert Island)以东。这个营地提供约100个露营车及帐篷，还有新的徒步及骑行路线，与古尔兹波勒村和公园目前的路线相连，一直通往半岛的尖端。今年冬天破纪录的大雪令露营地一直延迟到如今才开张，但是预定位置（先到先得）的服务从9月才开始。
在2013年的政府征收工作中，阿卡迪亚的道路暂时封闭了，一个受欢迎的附带结果是，人们认识到，步行或坐车游览这个公园是最好的，非盈利组织阿卡迪亚之友的联络协调员艾美·比尔·彻奇(Aimee Beal Church)说道。公园还有一个试行计划，在本季设立无车日（下一个日期是9月26日），届时从早到中午，游人可以通过自行车、滑板、旱冰和步行等形式在公园环路上畅行无阻。
内华达
尽管一年已经过去，米德湖国家休闲区内的黑峡水路还是值得一提，它是西南地区第一个由内务部认证的国家水路，在全美也只有16处。这条水路可以从若干始发地点出发，通往科罗拉多河下游，最引人注目的无疑是胡佛水坝。游客可以申请私人船只的通行证，不过还是从指定运动用品店租赁船只更为快捷。
新罕布什尔
新罕布什尔是雕塑家奥古斯图尔·圣-高登斯(Augustus Saint-Gaudens)的家乡，圣-高登斯国家历史遗迹(Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site)则是新罕布什尔唯一一处国家公园，它拥有国家公园系统中历史最悠久的艺术家入驻计划，以及大量艺术品收藏，9月开幕的回顾展上将展出其中的精品。这些艺术品中包括圣-高登斯著名的林肯站像，是第16任总统12英寸高的青铜塑像，为庆祝公园50周年落成，由原始石膏像重铸而成。
宾夕法尼亚
独立国家历史公园(Independence National Historical Park)是少数几个拥有自己的移动应用、特色地图和自动导向导游系统的公园，此外它还拥有关于自由之钟(Liberty Bell)的史迹，以及其他著名景点。上个月，公园推出一款全新的、名为“独立小护林员”的移动应用，是给孩子们玩的互动游戏，他们可以在游戏里获得护林员认证和勋章（仅限苹果和iOS设备）。
南达科他
民兵导弹历史遗迹(Minuteman Missile National Historic Site)内的新游客中心更像一个博物馆，而不是信息台。这里的互动展览和电影讲述了曾经藏在这片草原之下的洲际弹道导弹系统，以及它在冷战中发挥的作用。新的方案即将投入准备阶段，并在9月26日盛大启用。
拉什莫尔山国家公园(Mount Rushmore National Memorial)新开设了青年探索区，有公园管理者主持的互动儿童程序，将于6月启用。此外，拉什莫尔山社团将与南达科他州合作，开放新的康复徒步、骑行和骑马路线，将公园与南达科他州109英里长的乔治·S ·米克尔森路径(George S. Mickelson Trail)连在一起，这项工作将在未来两三年内完成，目前对游客游览没有直接影响。此外，公园安装了一套全新的、更节能的照明系统，既能照清我国先辈们的面容，又能将公园的能耗减少90%，并大大减轻光污染，这无疑是好事。
田纳西
大烟雾山国家公园(Great Smoky Mountains National Park)最受欢迎的步行线“烟囱顶”(Chimney Tops)在经历大修后重新回归，耐用性和安全性都得到了提高。这项维修工作完全由人工完成，使用有机材料，安装了367级石级（每块石头重300磅）、291个槐木台阶、700平方英尺保护墙、1600英尺上坡排水沟和40000立方英尺碎填石，让路面更坚固，此外还有其他改善措施。
公园较窄的咆哮叉河自然机动车道(Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail)也于本月重开，修了新的桥梁，令机动车可以更加安全地沿着咆哮叉河边五英里的道路行驶，观赏美景。
犹他
很多公园都不会主张保护夜晚的天空，但在国会礁国家公园(Capitol Reef National Park)，这是一项重要任务。这里被水袋凹地(Waterpocket Fold)的白砂礁石所隔绝，拥有常年晴朗的气候，格外适合观星。十几年来，公园一直在对员工和游客进行光污染方面的教育，公园也赢得了国际黑暗天空协会的金星奖，有助于提升公园的天文旅游。今年秋天，公园将在年度的遗产观星节上（10月9日至10日）推出一项附加活动以示庆祝。
为了减少机动车流量，布莱斯峡谷国家公园修建了一条六英里的自行车与步行道，方便游客观赏峡谷边缘的名胜，并把布莱斯峡谷市等公园的门户社区同更附近迪克西国家森林更崎岖的平原联在一起。第一部分将于今年秋天开放，整个道路将于明年春天完全开放。
圣乔治(St. George)是犹他五大公园(Mighty Five)中若干公园的门户城镇，2月份，它开放了自己的首个露天探险预约中心。圣乔治探险中心可以帮助游客预定吉普车旅游、有导游的徒步游、提供山地自行车租赁，骑马短途游及其他体育活动，以及高尔夫旅行、水疗和音乐会门票。
莫阿布巨人(Moab Giants)是一个新的恐龙探险公园，为满足今夏《侏罗纪公园》(Jurassic World)的狂热观众，它很快就会开放。莫阿布是另一个著名的门户城镇，公园就坐落在它的东边，占地40公顷，主题是早期侏罗纪至早期白垩纪犹他州的恐龙遗迹。有些遗迹中有真实化石，还有些是遗址上的铸像。公园将成为一个博物馆和在这里工作的古生物学者们的研究中心。
“帐篷下的莫阿布”(Moab Under Canvas)坐落在峡谷地国家公园(Canyonlands)和拱门国家公园(Arches National Parks)之间，提供游猎式帐篷和有木地板的圆锥帐篷，长毛绒寝具（有真正的床）和精心准备的三餐，此外还可以选择有导游的山地骑行。黄石公园和冰川国家公园，以及约塞米蒂和大峡谷国家公园的附加活动都有望于2016年开放，。
啊，莫阿布附近的A.C.T. 露营地与学习中心(A.C.T. Campground and Learning Center)还有另一半露营者，这个地点部分是由一位环保工程师与废水处理专家设计的。它的箴言“负责行动，舒适睡眠”强调极简主义，尤其是在房车和露营地点内更是没什么可浪费的，露营地有小木屋、俱乐部、公用厨房和学习中心，中心主人们会组织生态课程、现场探险、拍照游和写作班。
弗吉尼亚
仙纳度国家公园(Shenandoah National Park)增加了给儿童的活动。除了重新设计它的小护林员计划，还把公园的黑岩路径设为正式的“Kids in Parks Track”路线。它是一项旨在鼓励儿童在乡间徒步、玩探宝游戏或探索自然的全国方案，它提供这些路径的自助向导手册，讲述它们在历史与科学上的重要意义——在这里，是阿巴拉契亚路径(Appalachian Trail)的开发——并且让孩子们在网上追溯这个过程，赢取奖励。5月29日将举办启动仪式。
怀俄明
特拉维罗旅游(TerraVelo Tours)是一家新的骑行与徒步旅游公司，有豪华露营服务，它将业务从南犹他的“拱门、峡谷与胡都”(Arches, Canyons and HooDoos)扩展到了怀俄明的“高山、喷泉与拜森”(Mountains, Geysers and Bison)。跟随它提供的旅行线路可在夏天去往黄石公园和大提顿国家公园(Grand Teton National Parks)游览，在老忠实泉、诺里斯间歇泉盆地、温泉回路、莫马斯温泉和拉玛河谷等地驻足，享用私厨预备的大餐，住在堪比高档宾馆房间的帐篷套间，在日出时上瑜伽课，有洗衣和按摩服务，还有休闲帐篷，提供游戏等消遣。
NPS/Andrew Kearns
石化林国家公园为公园内的非常规景点制作了自助徒步地图。
新的家庭游是为8岁及以上儿童设计，提供电影之夜、弓箭课和烹饪展示。
为黄石峡谷草屋与木屋区建造的五座草屋里有三座可以在8月开放。这是萨特拉公园与保护区(Xanterra Parks & Resorts)的一项价值7000万美元的计划，旨在替换300座过时的木屋，增加公园的最大住宿能力。
为迎接2016年的125周年庆典，黄石湖酒店(Lake Yellowstone Hotel)将恢复它的殖民复兴风格原貌，喜欢历史的人无疑会喜欢。这项修缮工作将在6月完成，客房和公共区域都会进行修正，还会增添互联网服务和商业中心。不过和大多数国家公园小屋一样，别指望这里有空调和电视（房间价格为160美元一晚起）。
本文最初发表于2015年5月28日。
翻译：董楠
How to Get the Most Out of the National Parks This Summer
By RACHEL LEE HARRIS|August 04,2015
Last year saw a record number of visitors to the National Park Service’s more than 400 parks, monuments, battlefields, seashores and other sites. Those numbers are expected to increase as the agency approaches its centennial anniversary on Aug. 25, 2016.
The wealth of visitors is great but spreading it around can be a challenge, Kathy Kupper, a spokeswoman for the park service, said on the phone from her office in Washington, D.C.
“The iconic parks are always jammed, but there is incredible wildlife in Theodore Roosevelt too,” she said, referring to the national park in North Dakota. “It’s just not on people’s radar.”
The same is true for the agency’s growing number of historic and cultural sites, she said. “There’s a lot of focus right now on finding gaps in our collective history and culture. Not to take anything away from the classics, but the parks are more than wilderness.”
For Dan Wenk, interim president of the National Park Foundation and a director of Yellowstone, the parks can be a place for spiritual and emotional renewal, “whether you’re in Alcatraz or Yellowstone,” he said. “I consider them societal institutions that tell the stories of our triumph, joy, despair and history,” he said. “So how people connect with the parks is important.”
To assist with those connections, the agency and its foundation created Find Your Park, an interactive website that registers a users’ intellectual, geographical and activity preferences in order to suggest a park that’s right for them and then lets them share their experiences in the parks with “like-minded souls,” as Mr. Wenk put it.
The digital outreach continued with the start of the first National Park Service Instagram account last month; and a pilot program is designed to test a digital platform from which individual parks can create their own mobile apps. Some parks already offer apps independently from the park service and are enhancing them with GPS-enabled maps, digital park ranger tours and junior ranger activities.
Within the parks, visitors are likely to see a nominal increase in entry fees across the board, the upside of which is enhanced programming and visitors’ centers, lodging expansion and trail restoration, especially for bike use. And in so-called “gateway” towns to the iconic parks in the west, new glamping options, breweries, distilleries and attractions for children are helping take the “rough” out of roughing it.
What else is new at the national parks? Below is a list of highlights by state. Be sure to share any of your own discoveries in the comments section.
ARIZONA
Petrified Forest National Park is now mapping self-guided hikes to its more off-the-beaten-path destinations, in part to remind visitors that the parks are theirs to roam, Richard Ullmann, a park official, said in an email. “Historically, this was not always the case based on a theory that petrified wood was being stolen,” but “a multiyear rephotography effort now shows that the vast majority of visitors have done the right thing.”
Tours range from leisurely walks to strenuous hikes and can lead to petroglyphs, Triassic-era conifers or fossil beds in the Red Basin, the park’s newest land acquisition.
In August, a new field institute, sponsored by the Petrified Forest Museum Association, will begin offering classes led by geologists, archaeologists, photographers and other experts. And in 2016, look for electric vehicle charging stations to appear at the north and south entrances of the park.
CALIFORNIA
Are you still “roughing it” if pre-seasoned rib-eye steaks are delivered to your cabin door? After a long day of hiking around steaming fumaroles and boiling lakes, who cares? The steaks are just one perk in the new Deluxe and Dinner Date amenity packages being offered at the Manzanita Lake camping cabins in Lassen Volcanic National Park this season. Cooking supplies, pillow-top mattress covers and s’mores kits are also included. (Packages start at $100.)
Yosemite is all about restoration this year. This month the park’s main corridor, Tioga Road, is undergoing major repairs to fix pavement and signage, add parking and improve bathrooms. In March, the park welcomed a herd of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep back to its Cathedral Range after the conclusion of a multiyear project to repopulate the endangered species. The park’s Ansel Adams Gallery, which showcases the famous nature photographer’s works, reopened to the public in April after remodeling to allow full accessibility for the disabled. Even John Muir, known as the father of the national parks, is being revived by the actor Lee Stetson, who will answer audience questions about the park and its history at the Yosemite Theater as part of the park’s new theatrical programming.
COLORADO
Wetherill Mesa, known as the quieter side of Mesa Verde National Park, will have an extended season this year (through mid-October), giving cyclists ample to time to enjoy new access to the park’s six-mile Long House Loop, a paved path formerly used for tram service, and the backcountry routes on the park’s most popular hike, which has added a cycling component to its itinerary. Naturally, plans are in the works to open an on-site bike rental operation within the year.
Downward dog may be an ideal body posture for fossil hunting. At Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, a park guide, who is also a certified yoga instructor, leads groups in that and other poses at stops along different trails during Yoga Hikes, part of the park’s Hikes for Your Health series.
And this summer marks the end of the Rocky Mountain National Park centennial celebration, and so too, its special programming like the climbers’ oral history project, concerts from the Colorado Wind Ensemble and the Celebrating Rocky Invitational Art Show (June 6).
Just a year after local officials eased regulations on opening breweries and distilleries in Rocky Mountain’s gateway town, Estes Park, a number of operations are in the works. Lumpy Ridge Brewing Company, a 15-barrel microbrewery with an indoor tasting room and outdoor patio, is the first scheduled to open this summer, with two distilleries and three more breweries to follow before the end of the year.
Estes Park is adding two festivals: Western Days (May 29 to 31), which celebrates the area’s regional heritage with music, an art show and, to keep things real, a barrel-racing competition; and, after a short-lived run in Fort Collins, Colo., the Rocky Mountain Irish Gathering (June 18 to 21), is to be resurrected in Estes Park with a beefed-up list of international music groups, highland dancing, genealogy exploration and a new sporting competition, Irish Road Bowling.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The new Rock Creek Park GPS-enabled mobile app is in the final stages of development, according to the Rock Creek Conservancy, and is likely to be ready in time to assist with the park’s 125th anniversary (can you say “Quasquicentennial”?) in September. It is to feature a park map, trail maps and a schedule of events for what can seem like a confusing sprawl of paths winding through the nation’s capital.
HAWAII
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is helping campers take a load off at its Namakanipaio campground with a tent and supply rental option. Hawaii Volcanoes Lodge Company will set up and break down a camp site for two, including a tent, an 8-inch memory foam mattress, linens, a cooler, a lantern and chairs. Access to the refurbished community bathrooms is included, as is the toilet paper, a true camping luxury. ($40 per tent plus $15 to book the camp site.)
A second option for those who abhor tent pole configuration is Namakanipaio’s recently refurbished one-room cabins, which now offer wood floors, full-size and bunk beds with full-size mattresses, linens, towels and the survival tool every teenager needs: an electrical outlet.
Oh, and that recent eruption at the park’s Kīlauea Volcano? Good news, it’s less than five miles from the campground. The park website recommends the nearby Jaggar Museum overlook for the best views.
ILLINOIS
In February, President Obama gave Chicago its first national park site when he designated the Pullman Historic District a national monument. The first planned industrial community in the United States and the birthplace of the first African-American labor union, the remaining Pullman Palace Car Company buildings are “an evocative testament to the evolution of American industry, the rise of unions and the labor movement, the lasting strength of good urban design and the remarkable journey of the Pullman porters toward the civil rights movement,” the presidential proclamation stated.
Programming and public visiting hours are still being established, but those who can’t wait to witness its historical significance can find guided tours and more at the Historic Pullman Foundation, the Pullman State Historic Site or the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum.
LOUISIANA
No matter what you do in New Orleans, someone will be playing jazz, even at Pilates class. So the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park is now offering weekly Jazz Pilates classes, taught by Stephanie Jordan, a jazz vocalist and Pilates instructor who integrates the traditional practice with dance and the music of Coltrane, Kidd Jordan and others.
Inspired by programming organized for the bicentennial celebration of the Battle of New Orleans in January, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is in the process of revamping its educational and junior ranger programs to include workshops focused on life in 1815, including period games, dancing, music and crafts.
MAINE
Acadia National Park is to begin managing a new campground on Maine’s Schoodic Peninsula this fall, just east of its popular neighbor, Mount Desert Island. The site will offer almost 100 R.V. and tent sites, as well as new hiking and biking trails connecting to Gouldsboro Village and existing park trails leading to the peninsula’s tip. Record snow this winter delayed the opening for now, but look to book a spot (first come first served) beginning in September.
One welcome byproduct of road closures at Acadia during the 2013 government sequestration was the realization that the park was best seen on foot or vehicles, Aimee Beal Church, a communications coordinator at Friends of Acadia, a nonprofit, said. The park is obliging with a pilot program for car-free mornings this season (Sept. 26 is the next date), when bikes, skateboards, rollerblades and feet will have free rein on Park Loop Road until noon.
NEVADA
Though it’s already been a year, it’s worth noting that the Black Canyon Water Trail, which flows through Lake Mead National Recreation Area, was the first in the southwest to be named a national water trail by the Department of the Interior, and only the 16th in the United States. The trail offers access to the lower Colorado River from several launch sites, the most impressive of which is surely the Hoover Dam. Permits for private boat use can be obtained, though renting from an approved outfitter will get you on the river faster.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Once home to the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, New Hampshire’s only national park site, has one of the oldest artist-in-residence programs in the system and a significant body of work from which to choose pieces for its retrospective exhibition opening in September. Among the works will be Saint-Gaudens’ famous Standing Lincoln, a 12-foot bronze likeness of the 16th president, recast from the original plasters to honor the park’s 50th Anniversary.
PENNSYLVANIA
Independence National Historical Park is one of several with its own mobile app, featuring maps, self-guided tours and historical facts about the Liberty Bell and the park’s other famous attractions. Last month, the park unveiled a new Independence Junior Ranger app as well, which offers interactive games for kids who want to earn a ranger certificate and badge. (Available on Apple and iOS devices.)
SOUTH DAKOTA
The new visitor center at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site sounds more like a museum than an information desk. Interactive exhibits and films there cover the intercontinental ballistic missile system once hidden under the prairie and its role in the Cold War. New programming will begin at the facility in a leadup to the grand opening on Sept. 26.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial just opened a Youth Exploration Area, where interactive children’s programs will be hosted by park rangers beginning in June. Additionally, the Mount Rushmore Society is working with the state to develop a new recreational hiking, biking and horseback-riding trail that is to connect the park with the state’s 109-mile George S. Mickelson Trail, to be completed in the next two or three years. And though it won’t directly affect your visit, it may be comforting to know that the park has installed a new, more energy-efficient lighting system with which to highlight the faces of our forefathers, cutting the park’s energy usage by 90 percent and greatly reducing light pollution.
TENNESSEE
Chimney Tops, the most the heavily trod trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, has reopened after major maintenance to help ensure its long-term sustainability and safety. The work, done by hand with organic materials, included the installation of 367 rock steps (weighing 300 pounds each), 291 locust log steps, 700 square feet of retaining walls, 1,600 linear feet of uphill drainage ditches and 40,000 cubic feet of rock crush fill to help harden trail tread, among other improvements.
The park’s narrow Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail also reopened this month with new bridges, allowing a safer drive for motorists who want to explore the scenic five-mile road that winds parallel to Roaring Fork Creek.
UTAH
Protecting the night sky isn’t an initiative you hear many park activists touting, but for areas like Capitol Reef National Park, it’s a major mission. Isolated by the white sandstone cliffs of the Waterpocket Fold and with mostly cloudless weather conditions, it’s ideal for stargazing. Now, after more than a decade of projects to educate both staff and visitors about light pollution, the park has finally earned the International Dark-Sky Association’s Gold Star designation, which should help boost the park’s growing astro-tourism industry. The park celebrates this fall with an expanded schedule of events at the annual Heritage Starfest (Oct. 9 to 10).
To reduce motorized traffic, Bryce Canyon National Park is building a six-mile paved bike and hike path that will lead visitors past points of interest on the canyon rim and connect to gateway communities like Bryce Canyon City and the more rugged plateaus of the nearby Dixie National Forest. The first portion is scheduled to open this fall, with the entire path expected to open by next spring.
St. George, a gateway town to several of Utah’s Mighty Five parks, opened its first outdoor adventure booking center in February. The St. George Adventure Hub can assist with reserving jeep tours, guided hikes, mountain bike rentals, horseback riding excursions and other sporty activities, as well as golf outings, spa services and concert tickets.
Moab Giants, a new dinosaur exploration park, should open just in time to feed on the frenzied fans of “Jurassic World” this summer. The 40-acre grounds north of Moab, another popular gateway town, will focus on the tracks of Utah dinosaurs from the early Jurassic through the early Cretaceous periods. Some tracks will be true fossils; others are to be cast from area excavation sites. The park will also serve as a museum and research lab for paleontologists working in the area.
Sitting between the entrances to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, Moab Under Canvas provides safari-style tents and tepees with wood floors, plush bedding (on actual beds) and prepared meals, plus add-on options like guided mountain biking. Additional operations are in Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, with two more — near Yosemite and Grand Canyon — expected to open in 2016.
Or, see how the other half camps at the A.C.T. Campground and Learning Center near Moab, designed in part by an environmental engineer and wastewater specialist. Its “Act Responsibly, Sleep Comfortably” motto emphasizes minimalism, especially when it comes to waste at its R.V. and tent sites, small cabins, clubhouse, community kitchen and learning center, where the owners organize bio-geology classes, field adventures, photography tours and writing workshops.
VIRGINIA
Shenandoah National Park is expanding its programming for children. In addition to redesigning its Junior Ranger program, the park is to designate Blackrock Trail an official Kids in Parks Track trail. A national program aimed at encouraging children to hike, geocache or explore nature on trails around the country, Track offers self-guided brochures of trails, their historical and scientific significance — in this case, the development of the Appalachian Trail — and then has them track their progress online to win prizes. A dedication ceremony is planned for May 29.
WYOMING
TerraVelo Tours, a relatively new outfit specializing in bike and hike tours with a glamping component, has expanded its operations from the “Arches, Canyons and HooDoos” of southern Utah to the “Mountains, Geysers and Bison” of Wyoming. Tours to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks stop at Old Faithful, the Norris Geyser basin, the Hot Springs loop, Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar River Valley, among other destinations throughout the summer and include meals prepared by a private chef, a tent suite akin to an upscale hotel room, sunrise yoga classes, laundry and massage services, as well as the use of a lounge tent with games and other entertainment options.
New family tours are designed for children 8 and older and offer movie nights, archery lessons and cooking demonstrations.
Three of five lodges planned for Yellowstone’s Canyon Lodge & Cabins complex should be ready in August. The $70 million project headed by Xanterra Parks & Resorts was set in motion to replace more than 300 outdated cabins and to increase sustainability practices at the park’s largest accommodations.
And for those with an eye to history, a major renovation of the Lake Yellowstone Hotel is to restore much of its Colonial Revival style in preparation for its 125th anniversary in 2016. To be completed in June, updates extend to guest rooms as well as public spaces and add Internet service and a business center to the complex. As with most national park lodges, don’t get your hopes up for air-conditioning or televisions. There are none. (Rooms start at $160 a night.)
