Magazine
The Parks You Don't Know
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March 7, 2016

As the National Park Service's centennial looms, High Country News takes a trip through the West, to uncover some lesser-known parks, consider the stories they tell, and meet the people behind the scenes.

Feature

Protecting the Oregon Trail from the development it helped create
Protecting the Oregon Trail from the development it helped create
Dedicated volunteers fight to preserve one of the trails that brought settlers west.
Sarah Gilman March 7, 2016 From the print edition
Tracing America’s borderlands history along the Anza Trail
Tracing America’s borderlands history along the Anza Trail
Immigrants still follow Juan Bautista de Anza’s historic route.
Sarah Tory March 7, 2016 From the print edition

Current

At Valles Caldera, a new national park unit takes shape
At Valles Caldera, a new national park unit takes shape
A preserve was added to the park system, after an experiment in managing federal lands outside the traditional agencies.
Cally Carswell March 7, 2016 From the print edition
Finding the big quiet in Great Basin National Park
Finding the big quiet in Great Basin National Park
A writer revisits the acoustical landscape of the National Park system.
Leath Tonino Essay March 7, 2016 From the print edition
How not to forget the West’s past atrocities
How not to forget the West’s past atrocities
The national park system does more than celebrate beauty. It also commemorates the ugliest parts of our past.
Jonathan Thompson, Glenn Nelson, Joshua Zaffos and Heather Hansman March 7, 2016 From the print edition
NPS unveiled: Meet the people that make the national parks run
NPS unveiled: Meet the people that make the national parks run
Thousands of individuals in parks from Denali to Petrified Forest do little-known but essential jobs.
Krista Langlois March 7, 2016 From the print edition
National parks: Where we go and where we don’t
National parks: Where we go and where we don’t
Much of the Park Service’s land in the West is poorly visited and little-known.
Paige Blankenbuehler, Brooke Warren March 7, 2016 From the print edition

Editor's Note

The parks less traveled
The parks less traveled
Jodi Peterson March 7, 2016 From the print edition

Essays

The tricky allure of unpeopled places
The tricky allure of unpeopled places
Longing for solitude on the land, and feeling uneasy.
Ana Maria Spagna Essay March 7, 2016 From the print edition

Conversation

Secrets of the National Park Service
Secrets of the National Park Service
Readers and staff speak out on surprising favorites.
High Country News March 7, 2016 From the print edition

Writers on the Range

Whiteness reigns in a new film celebrating national parks
Whiteness reigns in a new film celebrating national parks
Glenn Nelson Opinion March 7, 2016 From the print edition

Book Reviews

In an era of change, a new chapter for the National Park Service
In an era of change, a new chapter for the National Park Service
Two new books offer an invitation to the parks — and an argument for their existence.
Brad Tyer March 7, 2016 From the print edition
The beautiful wilds of national parks
The beautiful wilds of national parks
Review of “The National Parks: An American Legacy,” by Ian Shive.
Lyndsey Gilpin Photos March 7, 2016 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Irreverent newspaper writers and easy-peasy science
Irreverent newspaper writers and easy-peasy science
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Betsy Marston March 7, 2016 From the print edition

Dear Friends

On the road between here and there
On the road between here and there
Paige Blankenbuehler March 7, 2016 From the print edition
High Country News Classifieds