National Parks

Climate change may be baring Mount Everest

2013-05-14 13:16:00

A warming climate is melting the glaciers of Mount Everest, shrinking the frozen cloak of Earth’s highest peak by 13% in the last 50 years, researchers have found. Rocks and natural debris previously covered by snow are appearing now as the snow...

An inside-out adventure canyoneering in Utah

2013-05-13 00:00:00

SPRINGDALE, Utah — There comes a moment when you step backward off a cliff, clinging to a rope the width of your pinkie, and ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" It's inevitable. Fear of heights (and its close cousin, fear of falling) is as deeply...

Graffiti-scarred canyon in Joshua Tree National Park still closed

2013-04-30 21:48:00

A picturesque canyon in Joshua Tree National Park that was scarred by graffiti will remain closed due to an extensive clean-up operation, officials said Tuesday. Rattlesnake Canyon was defaced by vandals who used social media to boast about their...

'Star Wars' creator George Lucas seeks to back S.F. museum

2013-04-30 07:00:00

George Lucas seems to be using the force: The billionaire filmmaker is one of three finalists vying to create a new cultural facility in San Francisco. The Lucas Cultural Arts Museum, as it would be called, would showcase Lucas’ extensive art...

Details about new plan for San Gabriel Mountains raise questions

2013-04-11 21:25:00

Political leaders and outdoors enthusiasts expressed dismay Thursday over new details about an Interior Department recommendation for changes in federal management of a popular region of the San Gabriel Mountains. "The proposal raises many questions,...

Historic Joshua Tree sites blighted by city's ills

2013-04-12 18:21:00

JOSHUA TREE — Along the saw-toothed ridge of Rattlesnake Canyon, crude graffiti invades the crevices that offered shade to nomadic Indians trekking across the Mojave hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. "Skunk,'' "oatmeal cookie" and "punx"...

Social media suspected in vandalism at Joshua Tree National Park

2013-04-08 22:56:00

A popular canyon area of Joshua Tree National Park has been shut down because vandals have defaced the area with graffiti splashed across rocks and archeological sites, officials said Monday. Rattlesnake Canyon has been shut down temporarily as park...

Wyoming locals pick up tab for Yellowstone snowplowing

2013-04-06 19:00:00

CODY, Wyo. — For many, the federal budget ax that fell last month has meant a few nicks here and there. For Joe Kondelis, it's sliced a lot deeper. After stewing for days, the 53-year-old opened his wallet and delivered a $2,000 check to the...

Joshua Tree National Park is teeming with blossoms

2013-04-11 14:31:00

Extensive stands of Joshua Tree National Park’s peculiar namesake plants are festooned with clumps of white and yellow flowers that are drawing tourists eager to take in the scenery before the bloom wilts in the harsh desert sun. “It’s...

Joshua Tree targeted by graffiti vandals using social media

2013-04-13 22:15:00

Joshua Tree National Park has become a destination of taggers, and the graffiti has visitors and park officials outraged. "We come to this place because it's not as touristy as surrounding national parks, and you don't run into as many people. You...

Ambitious plan would remake Yosemite National Park

2013-04-13 17:35:00

The majestic landscape of Yosemite National Park — carved out of granite and shaped by powerful natural forces over the eons — is timeless and untouchable. Other attractions in the park … not so much. Some of Yosemite's much-loved...

Free for all at national parks next week: No entrance fees

2013-04-12 15:18:00

What better way to celebrate National Park Week than to visit a national park? Makes plans for that trip next week, when entrance to all national parks will be free, from Monday through� Friday. Many parks plan special programs, such as Death Valley...

This national park in Tajikistan, which lies in Eastern Europe and borders China, encompasses one of the world's most tectonically-active regions in the world. It also contains the world's highest natural dam, behind which Lake Sarez (pictured) lies, and some of the world's deepest gorges.

2013-05-13 15:32:54

Visitors in 2009 (through August): 732,407 Arches National Park features more than 2,000 sandstone arches carved by millions of years of erosion. Prominent formations in the park include Delicate Arch, Balanced Rock and Landscape Arch.

2013-05-13 09:50:00

Educational placards about deer mice are mounted in the new tent cabins at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park.

2013-05-02 14:23:16