When taking in the sights at beautiful overlooks many people don’t give a second thought to if the platform they’re standing on is safe…because why wouldn’t it be? But what happens when governments don’t appropriately fund high tourist areas such as national parks? When parks are underfunded and people still visit, fatalities are more likely to occur. This is what happened in Paparoa National Park in April of 1995. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paparoa_National_Park

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Creek_disaster

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/14-die-cave-creek#:~:text=On%20April%2028%2C%201995%2C%2014%20people%20died,the%2014%20deceased%20were%20recovered%20by%20nightfall.

https://cavecreek.weebly.com/long-term-consequences.html

https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/04/28/sadness-gratitude-cave-creek-survivors-reflect-30-years-on/

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Welcome to Nature News, where we bring you the latest headlines from the wild places that shape our world — and sometimes take us by surprise. From hikers trapped in quicksand to ancient lakes returning after decades, here’s what nature has been telling us this past month.

Sources:

https://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/news/hiker-trapped-quicksand-arches-national-park/

https://people.com/human-remains-believed-to-be-missing-kayaker-found-river-nevada-11864854

https://amp.fresnobee.com/news/california/article313522123.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/12/05/karl-bushby-walk-around-world/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/death-valleys-ancient-lake-returned-173807792.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHhuxw-IzSi8xRP7GbKT0XRLiVhcMKbs81bByK3jADBAQQYRWukhBdG2kmVoEuZSjVdKXCNN5tBXMilFhP8sq8kWVDGwgUZHqzgGi4zQEnOCY9Oyssc8Y3xWXc5VIbHps7PAW1Dl2t41QQhk_-bYnXPjJ1I3t83Or_qKAf-jYTfP

https://www.ksl.com/article/51418439/great-salt-lakes-latest-species-discovery-gets-a-name-fit-for-the-lakes-native-history

https://www.ksl.com/article/51418184/backcountry-santas-deliver-christmas-to-navajo-nation-families

https://www.vice.com/en/article/worlds-largest-dinosaur-tracks-site-found-in-bolivia/

https://people.com/womans-car-found-in-parking-lot-near-national-park-days-after-she-was-reported-missing-11873381

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cz7n4px7e41o

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/12/26/lds-church-returns-sacred/

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/3-hikers-found-dead-search-rescue-effort-mount/story?id=128787732

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Horror doesn’t come from nowhere. Some of the most unsettling films we watch in the dark are rooted in something real — a crime, a disappearance, a moment that was too strange to ignore. Art imitates life, and in horror, it often does so with disturbing precision. And maybe that’s why these movies hit harder than pure fiction. Because somewhere beneath the jump scares and soundtracks, there’s a reminder that the most frightening stories are the ones that already happened.

Join me for a fun NYE special episode! I had the pleasure of having Ryan & Chris from Roasted Snow Horror Show on to talk about what they know best: horror movies. I love the horror genre and I could talk about horror movies all day. So we got together to discuss outdoor horror films (& went on lots of tangents!) Ryan and Chris are so fun and their podcast is very entertaining, I can’t recommend it enough. Check them out & go give them a follow. 

Happy New Year everyone! 

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In July 2010, an experienced outdoorsman goes missing while with friends during a climb on Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier is majestic, but it’s also merciless. Eric’s story is a haunting reminder that even experts can vanish—and often without explanation. His disappearance remains one of Mount Rainier’s most baffling modern mysteries, a reminder of how quickly climbers can be swallowed by the mountain’s brutal weather and treacherous terrain.

Sources:

https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/eric-lewis

https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201109100/Climber-Unties-from-Team-Disappears-During-Severe-Weather-Inexperienced-Climbing-Partners-Washington-Mount-Rainier-Gibraltar-Ledges

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The Mojave Desert can look endless from above — all pale rock, broken sun, and silence. But for two hikers in July 2017, that silence became something else entirely. Three months after going missing, their bodies were found under a tree and left everyone with more questions than answers. 

Sources:

https://people.com/crime/joshua-tree-murder-suicide-california/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41702369

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/03/06/autopsy-offers-few-clues-in-murder-suicide-of-couple-in-joshua-tree/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/park-hikers-may-have-died-sympathetic-murder-suicide-n813046

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For decades, ranchers across the American West have stumbled upon scenes that defy explanation: perfectly healthy cattle found dead overnight, organs removed with surgical precision, no blood, no tracks, no signs of struggle. From Colorado’s windswept plains to the deserts of New Mexico, these cases have become part of rural legend — and one of the strangest unsolved mysteries in modern American history.

Sources:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/mysterious-mutilations/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_mutilation

https://www.opb.org/article/2025/03/26/think-out-loud-rural-oregon-cattle-mutilation-documentary-not-one-drop-of-blood/

https://vault.fbi.gov/Animal%20Mutilation

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/08/767283820/not-one-drop-of-blood-cattle-mysteriously-mutilated-in-oregon

https://www.abc4.com/news/crime/carbon-county-cattle-mutilation/

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2024/01/10/investigation-into-13-dead-cows/

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In 1989, a chilling mystery unfolded high in the rugged wilderness of Japan’s Daisetsuzan National Park. Near the slopes of Mount Asahidake, rescuers responding to a hand-carved SOS sign stumbled upon a gruesome discovery — a human skeleton lying beside it. At first glance, it seemed like a tragic but straightforward case: but it was anything but. What began as a routine recovery in the Japanese mountains turned into one of the country’s most perplexing unsolved outdoor mysteries — a haunting reminder that sometimes, even cries for help can hide secrets of their own.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisetsuzan_National_Park

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/japan/hokkaido/daisetsuzan-national-park-grand-traverse--3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOS_incident

https://www.historicmysteries.com/history/kenji-iwamura/36136/

https://vocal.media/criminal/the-sos-sign-that-no-one-made-japan-s-strangest-hiking-mystery

https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Asahidake_John_Doe

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Welcome back to Nature News, November 2025 Edition. On this episode, we travel across canyons, coasts, glaciers, forests, and mountains — touching on real stories of nature’s beauty, danger, and unpredictability. Some are tragic. Some are surreal. All are a reminder of the raw power and complexity of the wild.

Sources:

https://www.foxcarolina.com

The Guardian

wbir.com

ABC News

People.com

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We’re heading deep into Washington’s Olympic National Park — a place where mist hangs heavy in the ancient forests, and where the line between the living and the lost grows thin. From the storm-battered beaches of Rialto and Ruby, to the moss-draped silence of the Hoh Rain Forest, this landscape feels alive — watching, listening. Join us for today's installment of Haunted Parks.

Sources:

https://www.myolympicpark.com/park/history/the-lady-of-crescent-lake/

https://thenationsvacation.com/travel_guide/national-park-ghost-stories/

https://seattleterrors.com/olympic-national-park/

https://www.nps.gov/olym/index.htm

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National parks are supposed to be peaceful—untouched slices of wilderness. But dig through the right reports, and you’ll find something else: the weird stuff. The unsettling stuff. The “what the hell actually happened out there?” stuff. Join us for part two of bizarre incident reports from various national parks.

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