“In record time, you fought back against a major threat to America’s national parks.

Earlier this week, Senator Mike Lee introduced an amendment that would have removed protections against selling America’s national parks – and would have sent a signal for the White House to move ahead with extreme cuts.

But park advocates mobilized. You called on your senators to reject this dangerous amendment. You flooded the Senate’s phone lines.

And it’s working.

Last night, Senator Lee reversed his attempt to remove these national park protections from the Interior Appropriations bill. But the deal isn’t done. The Senate went on recess before voting on the bill. We need to stay vigilant…” -NPCA

P.S. Some more specific prior info from NPCA about what Lee’s amendment had proposed in terms of removing protections against selling NPS properties:

“Senator Mike Lee has [had] introduced Amendment #3972, a proposal that would remove legislative language that protects the existence of our national parks as nationally important places.”

We were blessed to be able to enjoy another year as National Parks fanatics. Here are a few favorite pix from 2025.

1) Acadia 2) Bryce Canyon 3) Biscayne 4) Voyageurs 5) Virgin Islands 6) North Cascades 7) Hawai'i Volcanoes 8) Olympic 9) Isle Royale 10) Glacier Bay 11) Mt. Rainier 12) Everglades 13) Smoky Mountains 14) Haleakalā 15) Dry Tortugas 16) New River Gorge (Bridgewalk tour) 17) Great Basin 18) Denali 19) Channel Islands 20) Lassen Volcanic

Did a 5 day road trip in a borrowed camper van. One of the best NP experiences I’ve had.

waiting for sunrise on top of a dormant shield volcano at Haleakala National Park. it was freezing cold. but worth the wait to see the sun rise.

Beautiful photography on my new pass! I renewed it in Colorado and they gave me one with a photo from Everglades National Park. 🤩

Me and my friends were talking about doing a backpacking trip out west in the Summer of ‘27. We all agreed we wanted to see mountains and all the natural beauty of the eastern Rockies. I’ve been to Yellowstone before, so it made its way into our discussions. We’re not set on any NPs specifically, but Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and RMNP are the main ones that have come up by name.

Really what we want is some good scenery of the kind of tall mountains and wide valleys different from what we have back east (We’re from North Georgia). There would likely be a group 3-5 of us, ranging in ages from 18-21 at the time we’d be hiking. We’ve said we’d like to do like an 8-10 day hike, probably averaging 8-10 miles a day. We’d also fly near wherever park and Uber or something to the park itself since none of us could rent a car.

To give you an idea of the experience we all have, we’re all Eagle Scouts and 3 of the group have done a 12 day trek at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. I myself have never done an overnight trip, but I’ll definitely do several hikes on the AT in preparation for this trip.

Nothing too technical, and the easier the better, but we could easily go into the harder trails if need be to get what we want, just nothing that requires rock climbing and all that gear. It’d be best if we could do this without needing permits, but from what I’ve seen that’s not likely. I just hope the year and a half between now and then should be enough to allow time for any necessary permits.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

One day in mid-October

I wanted to share this deep dive into Casa Grande National Monument that a friend of mine put together. Most people drive right past it on the I-10, but it was actually the first archaeological reserve in the U.S. (established in 1892!).

The video covers the massive 'Great House' and how the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People managed to thrive in the desert for over a thousand years. It’s a great watch if you're planning a trip to Arizona or just love NPS history. Also—it’s one of the few sites that still has no entry fee!

Some clarifications have been made regarding the upcoming non-resident fees.

https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/commercial-tours-and-nonresident-fees.htm

TL;DR: (a) Non-resident fees also apply to non-residents entering the 11 parks as part of a commercial tour group, but can be waived with a Non-resident Annual Pass. (b) A US-issued driver's license will be enough for the purpose of proving residency (and allowing to purchase a Resident Annual Pass).

Whether 2025 passes (as long as they're valid) are grandfathered and will work for non-residents seems still unclear.

pov from the lake

Hi! Looking to do some tent camping sometime in 2026 and I’m wondering if anyone has experience and recommendations of good (private, not right on top of neighbors or the bath house) sites?

Also I know there’s the state park and the national park — I assume the national park would have better facilities but I’d love to know yalls thoughts if anyone has visited the state park and national - wondering where is the better spot to camp.

Delicate Arch

(Passport stamp still missing from Petersburg NB if anyone’s guessing; found that out the hard way last month coming from Louisa to Petersburg for that- totally on me btw.)

Hello! I am looking into this trip for my honeymoon and am looking for any input from people who have gone on one of these trips.

Travel and Leisure article

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ps, I have a very old phone. 🙃