National Parks Traveler Podcast

By Kurt Repanshek

Society & Culture Places & Travel

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National Parks Traveler is the world's top-rated, editorially independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas on a daily basis.

Traveler offers readers and listeners a unique multimedia blend of news, feature content, debate, and discussion all tied to national parks and protected areas.

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National Parks Traveler Pod...

03.26.2023

Coastal grey wolves in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska seem to be feasting well these days on an unlikely food source - sea otters. In fact, the shorelines of Glacier Bay offer wolves a cornucopia of otters ...

National Parks Traveler Podcast episodes:

03.26.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Glacier Bay Wolves Coastal grey wolves in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska seem to be feasting well these days on an unlikely food source - sea otters. In fact, the shorelines of Glacier Bay offer wolves a cornucopia of otters ...
03.19.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Ninety-Pound Rucksack, Part 2 How did America get hooked on skiing? In 1939, Hannes Schneider moved from Austria to North Conway, New Hampshire, to teach skiing. But before the sport really took off, World War II broke out. After the war, a gritty band ...
03.12.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Ninety-Pound Rucksack, Part 1 How much do you know about World War II history, Grand Teton National Park, and the evolution of outdoor recreation in the United States? Believe it or not, they’re all intertwined. Ninety-Pound Rucksack is a podcast about the U.S. Army’s ...
03.05.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| What's Going On At Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is not simply a park that you pass along the way. Located in West Texas along the US/Mexico border, this 1,252-square-mile park is five hours from the closest commercial airport. In other words, you must make ...
02.26.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Watch the Bear Bears tend to scare us when we’re outdoors and they’re not behind steel bars. Particularly grizzly bears. They’re big, with sharp claws and powerful jaws, and seem to be in a bad mood whenever we spot them. We hear about ...
02.19.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Gauging Western Views For more than a decade, Colorado College has sponsored a poll to gauge conservation sentiments of residents in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Nevada. Over the years, the questions have ranged from whether the members of ...
02.12.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory The US Geological Survey operates five different volcano observatories around the country. These observatories monitor real-time volcanic, hydrothermal, and earthquake activity in Alaska, the Cascade Mountains, California’s Long Valley Caldera, Yellowstone National Park, and the State of Hawaii. There are ...
02.05.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Exploring the Oregon Trail It is one of the longest units of the National Park System in the country. "It," of course, is the Oregon National Historic Trail, which stretches more than 2,100 miles from Missouri to Oregon. It’s been estimated that between 1840 ...
01.29.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Migratory Corridors with Dr. William Newmark It’s a problem that’s been coming for quite some time, and one that really comes as no surprise. The large landscape national parks that are home to many species of wildlife have been turning into biological islands as development hems ...
01.22.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Wildlife Migratory Corridors There is a wide acceptance that we have drifted too far away from nature, and that we need to pull closer. Many have called for 30 by 30 - conserving 30% of nature by 2030. The 2022 State of the ...
01.15.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Exploring Waco Mammoth National Monument Exceptionally well-preserved fossils of Columbian Mammoths and other Ice Age animals are found at the Waco Mammoth National Monument in Waco, Texas. In this unit of the National Park System, you can see the only recorded evidence of a nursery ...
01.08.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \|Birding Changes At Acadia National Park National parks offer some of the best birding in the country. From Acadia National Park to Big Bend National Park and over to Haleakalā National Park, you could spend days looking overhead for a species to add to your life ...
01.01.2023 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| 2022's Top Stories From The Parks When unprecedented flooding roars through a national park, shredding major roads that access that park, it rightfully could be pointed to as the top story in the National Park System. And while Yellowstone National Park was that park, not only ...
12.25.2022 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Favorite National Park Stories From 2022 We’re just about to close the books on 2022 and what a year in the National Park System it has been. We’ve seen catastrophic flooding, drought, and crowds, lots of crowds. Today though, we’re going to focus on some of ...
12.18.2022 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Climate Change Conversations Andrew Revkin, noted journalist, author, and educator, has been reporting on climate change for the better part of 35 years. In a conversation with the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick, he shares stories of his experiences, and how he is adapting his ...
12.11.2022 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| National Park Disaster Funding It’s been quite a year in the National Park System when the subject turns to unexpected bills. There was the historic flooding that hit Yellowstone National Park in June, monsoonal flooding that struck Death Valley National Park and Mojave National ...
12.04.2022 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation's 25th Anniversary Across the National Park System, national parks fortunate enough to have friends groups helping them out have been leaning a little bit harder on those non-profit organizations than in the past. In some cases a lot harder as federal funding ...
12.01.2022 National Parks Traveler Audio Postcard From The Parks \| Quitobaquito SpringsOrgan Pipe Cactus National Monument National Parks Traveler correspondent Jennifer Bain visits Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southwestern Arizona. Jessica Pope, the park's interpretation, education and community engagement programs manager, gives Bain a tour of Quitobaquito Springs, a lush oasis in the middle of ...
11.27.2022 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Dehydration King Chef Glenn MacAllister Freeze-dried meals long have been the go-to food source for many backcountry travelers, but only because they didn’t know other options existed for meal time. And not everyone easily stomachs those meals. To explore the possibilities of home-made dehydrated meals, ...
11.24.2022 National Parks Traveler Audio Postcard From The Parks \| "Glacier" There are places in the National Park System that take your breath away. Places such as Glacier National Park, along the shoreline of Avalanche Lake, or atop Logan Pass staring down valley along with the mountain goats. If you've been ...
11.20.2022 National Parks Traveler Podcast \| Overlooked Gems Of The National Park System This year has been a year of firsts for the National Parks Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek. First-time visits to units of the National Park System, that is. This year Repanshek has taken road trips through Nebraska, Kansas, and New Mexico ...
11.13.2022 National Parks Traveler \| November News Round-up As winter approaches, the slow season is setting in across the National Park System, which makes it a good time to take measure of some issues that are confronting both the parks and the National Park Service. We’ve invited Kristen ...
11.06.2022 National Parks Traveler \| Devils Hole Pupfish As hot, arid, and dusty as Death Valley National Park is, it might come as a surprise to learn that it has a very important fishery of sorts. There is a place in the national park where there is a ...
10.30.2022 National Parks Traveler \| Drive National Parks Traveler's Coverage National Parks Traveler Founder Kurt Repanshek and contributing editors Kim O'Connell and Lynn Riddick discuss the Traveler's role in reporting on national parks and how reader and listener support make that role possible.
10.23.2022 National Parks Traveler \| The Bison Of Tallgrass Prairie Back in 2009, a small herd of bison was relocated from Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas. The goal was not only to restore an essential foundational species of wildlife that had ...
10.23.2022 National Parks Traveler Audio Postcard From The Parks \| Parks Canada's Only Shipwright Terry Karlsen is Parks Canada's only shipwright. And his latest challenge is a big one: Restoring the S.S. Klondike, a vintage steam-powered paddlewheeler. The work is underway at the S.S. Klondike National Historic Site in Whitehorse, Yukon.
10.16.2022 National Parks Traveler \| The Grand Teton National Park Foundation If you’ve spent time in the National Park System, you’ve seen a mix of conditions in terms of a park’s infrastructure. Some are in great condition, some not so great. Recently my wife and I had the opportunity to stop ...
10.11.2022 National Parks Traveler Audio Postcard From The Parks\|Appreciating Yellowstone By Sea Kayak A sea kayaking paddle on Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park just might be the perfect way to end summer if you like paddling. It's also a great way to gain another perspective of the park, and the National Park ...
10.09.2022 National Parks Traveler \| Climate Change And The Parks Our climate is changing, and not subtly. And it's having a great and visible impact on the National Park System. We saw flooding and fires at units of the National Park Systems this year, as well as an ongoing historic ...
10.02.2022 National Parks Traveler \| From Swamp to Wetlands Everglades National Park was somewhat of an anomaly when it was authorized in Congress back in 1934. It marked the first time that federal land was set aside for its abundance of plant and animal species, rather than for its ...
09.25.2022 National Parks Traveler \| Exploring Saratoga National Historical Park Today we’re going to delve into some of New York’s Revolutionary War history with an audio trip to Saratoga National Historical Park. The Traveler’s Lynn Riddick caught up park ranger and military historian Eric Schnitzer, who explains what happened there ...
09.18.2022 National Parks Traveler \| Fat Bear Week At Katmai National Park Fall is here. Snow has fallen in the Rockies, the days are getting shorter, and some animals are realizing that winter isn’t that far away. With the change of seasons underway, you should mark your calendar for the most unusual ...
09.11.2022 National Parks Traveler \| Kenai Fjords' Glaciers One of the most amazing settings in the National Park System are glacial landscapes. From Glacier National Park in Montana and Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state to Alaska, these rivers of ice are captivating to see and, if ...
09.04.2022 National Parks Traveler \|Rewilding the West The Biden administration’s desire to preserve at least 30 percent of the country’s lands and waters for nature by 2030 has heightened the public’s interest in nature, and spurred countless conversations into not only how that goal can be achieved, ...
08.28.2022 National Parks Traveler: Acadia's Friends It’s been said time and again, the National Park Service is not adequately funded. There’s just not enough money in the agency’s annual budgets to address all the needs across the National Park System. And those needs are many, from ...
08.21.2022 National Parks Traveler: Is Recreation.gov Exclusionary? As the inscription on the Roosevelt Arch at the north entrance into Yellowstone National Park reminds us, the national parks are for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. They are wild, scenic, and historic spaces that belong to all ...
08.14.2022 National Parks Traveler: Adventuring To Alaska's Parks Alaska is a big state, and within that big state are 17 units of the National Park System spanning more than 100 million acres. Denali, Glacier Bay, Kenai Fjords, Katmai, Wrangell-St. Elias are just some of those units. But if ...
08.10.2022 Audio Postcard From The Parks: The Shadow Mountain Lookout On the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, in an opening in the piney forest, stands a fire lookout built in the 1930s. The Shadow Mountain Lookout is the only lookout remaining in the park. During a recent visit ...
08.07.2022 National Parks Traveler: Recovering Yellowstone Climate change is materializing in various ways across the National Park System. Houses have been falling into the Atlantic at Cape Hatteras National Seashore as a result of sea level rise and shifting of the barrier island, wildfires have been ...
07.31.2022 National Parks Traveler Episode 181: Musical Kīlauea If you’re interested in volcanoes, you need not go further than our national parks to get your fill. Eighty-four units of the National Park System have volcanic resources. These parks run the gamut of having very active volcanic features to ...
07.24.2022 National Parks Traveler\|Homestead National Historical Park Homestead National Historical Park near Beatrice, Nebraska, isn’t that big, just 211 acres, but as the saying goes, it plays much, much bigger. Here you’ll find the National Museum on Homesteading, historic buildings including the Palmer-Epard log cabin that despite ...
07.17.2022 National Parks Traveler \| Exploring Fort Larned National Historic Site The beauty of the National Park System is that there are more than 400 units that you can choose to visit, and each has a unique perspective showcasing the United States’ history, natural beauty, or cultural richness. Fort Larned is ...
07.14.2022 Audio Postcards From The Parks: Stitching National Parks Together Though Nancy Hershberger might be dismissed by "traditional" quilters, her patchwork designs capture a setting deserving a spot in an art gallery, or a wall in your home. True, her quilts won't cover your bed or keep you physically warm ...
07.10.2022 National Parks Traveler \|Walking Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve There are 423 units in the National Park System, but a surprising number of people focus on about two dozen parks. Last year, when roughly 300 million visited the park system, just 25 units – the Yellowstones, Grand Canyon’s, Zions, ...
07.03.2022 National Parks Traveler\| Walking The Oregon Trail At Scotts Bluff The Oregon Trail stretched roughly 2,170 miles from Missouri to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It rambled across prairie, sagebrush desert and mountains. From the 1840s into the 1880s, hundreds of thousands of immigrants made the challenging journey, and not all survived. ...
06.29.2022 Audio Postcard From The Parks \| Sea Kayaking Jackson Lake At Grand Teton There really are few days that aren't great for paddling on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park, whether you're in a canoe or a sea kayak. During a short getaway in early June my wife and I did just ...
06.26.2022 National Parks Traveler Podcast - Episode 176 NPT Ep 176 Spot List - Run Time - 41:40 :02 National Parks Traveler introduction :12 Episode Intro with Lynn Riddick :34 The Road Scholar - Bill Mize - The Spirit of South Dakota :44 Eastern National Passport 1:27 Interior ...
06.19.2022 National Parks Traveler: Surviving The Covid Pandemic At Yosemite The impact of the Covid shutdown in the National Park System is well-known, and we regret that many park-related businesses in the gateway communities may not have made it. The National Parks Traveler circled back to one particular business that ...
06.12.2022 National Parks Traveler \| Listening To The Parks Waking up in the middle of the night in the backcountry of a national park can often be an interesting, or even unnerving, experience. What was it that caused you to wakeup? Fourteen years ago, deep in the interior of ...
06.05.2022 National Parks Traveler \| Birding In The National Parks The natural and wild environments of our national parks offer the unsurpassed protection and diverse ecosystems that birds need to thrive. And that makes our parks equally great places for you to see birds. This week the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick ...

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