Zion National Park in Utah is one of those places that exceeds expectations and defies explanation. I might just be partial to it because I’m getting married there in June, but it truly is an awe-inspiring place. Red rocks line steep canyons and wild flowers dot the horizon. It’s difficult to imagine what early settlers of the West must have thought when they came across Zion. This video shows two days in the life of Zion in January of this year. The whole video is gorgeous, but the trip through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel is a highlight for sure.
2012 opening dates for Yellowstone lodges announced
The opening dates for the lodges inside Yellowstone National Park were announced earlier this week giving travelers an opportunity to start booking their accommodations well in advance of any planned visits later this year. While largely shut down for the winter months, the park’s historic and iconic lodges will open in stages throughout the spring in order to meet demand for the busy summer travel season ahead.
Starting in late April, the roads leading into Yellowstone will be cleared of snow, allowing vehicle access to the park once again. The exact dates for when those roads open can’t be predicted, as late season snow storms and heavy accumulations can present unexpected challenges. Once those roads do begin to open, however, park restaurants and gift shops near Old Faithful and Mammoth will soon follow.
The first lodges to resume operation for the season will be the Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, both of which open on May 4. A week later they’ll be joined by the Lake Yellowstone Hotel and the Old Faithful Lodge, which are now accepting reservations for arrivals starting on May 11. The rest of the Yellowstone accommodations, including the Old Faithful Inn (May 18) and the Roosevelt Lodge (June 8), will open in the weeks that follow.
Spring and early summer are the perfect times to visit Yellowstone as the park returns to life following a long winter. In addition to blooming flowers and budding trees, the park’s abundant wildlife is generally more active too and sharp-eyed travelers will often catch a glimpse of newborn bison, elk and even bear.
If you have plans to visit Yellowstone this year you can check for room availability and book your stay by clicking here.
National Parks Foundation picks 5 most romantic park getaways
Valentine’s Day may be over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to incorporate a little romance into your life, especially if it happens to involve travel as well. Earlier this week, the National Parks Foundation selected their five most romantic national park escapes, and they are so good, they’re practically guaranteed to score you points with your significant other.
The five romantic getaways include watching the sunset at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California; paddling together through Florida‘s Everglades National Park; taking a scenic wagon ride in Oxon Cove Park, Maryland; going birding along the Padre Island National Seashore in Texas; and strolling along the beach in the Virgin Islands National Park.
What I like about this list is that it incorporates a little something for everyone. Active couples can paddle, hike or even snorkle, while those looking for a bit more relaxed experience have several options as well. These parks are scenic, and somewhat lesser known, but most definitely romantic all year round. I’ve personally been to several of the places on the list, and can attest to how wonderful they are – both as a couples escape and as an adventure travel destination.
So, if you missed the mark on Valentine’s Day, or are already planning ahead for next year, this is a great list to give you some ideas. Of course, if you’re a hopeless romantic at heart, why wait? Start planning your romantic national park getaway now.
National Parks Conservation Association launches official blog
The National Parks Conservation Association, a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and preserve America’s wild and historic places, officially launched their new blog earlier this week. The site, which can be found at ParkAdvocate.org, went online just as America’s first Summit on National Parks was getting underway.
As you would imagine with any new blog, content is a bit sparse at the moment, but already filing in nicely. Eventually the site will be home to a wide variety of news stories and features on the parks and NPCA efforts to protect them, as well as photos and videos from those amazing places. The blog already features a four-minute video tour of Yosemite and a great overview of the proposed Lone Star National Recreation Area, which we told you about last week, with plenty more content to come soon.
The blog’s first official post came from NPCA President Tom Kiernan who discussed America’s Summit on National Parks, a symposium that wrapped up yesterday in Washington, D.C. At the Summit, a number of leaders in conservation, tourism, education, and a variety of other fields, came together to discuss the future of the national parks in the U.S. as we approach the 100th anniversary of the Park Service in 2016. The parks currently face a variety of threats, including climate change, pollution, and massive budget cuts, just to mention a few, and the attendees of the conference discussed ideas on how to continue to preserve America’s wild places for future generations to enjoy, while meeting those challenges.
Judging from the attendance numbers – which continue to rise to historic levels – travelers see the value of protecting the national parks too. Now, thanks to this new blog, they have a tool for staying connected to parks and staying informed of the efforts to protect them.
Yosemite National Park like you’ve never seen it before
While most people have seen beautiful photos of Yosemite National Park in California, there’s nothing quite like watching the different aspects of a landscape as they shift and transform through timelapse video. Viewers get the chance to see moments that they would usually be asleep for, or that are too quick to be caught by the naked eye, like the Earth rotating over a lush valley, the sunrise as it hits a high mountain peak, shooting stars in a sky unpolluted by light, and the changing of each season. The high-definition film was created by Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty, who wanted to show the area in an “extreme way”. For more information, visit the Project Yosemite website. To see behind the scenes of the making of the video, click here.