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Campground
Reservations
Celebrate the Holidays
in
Anerica's
National Parks
Plan Your Visit to "America's Best Idea"
(Your National Parks)
Fall, Winter, Spring: 2009 - 2010
Events & Activities | Commercial Services | Travel
Tips
“To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn”
—Pete Seeger, working with material from Ecclesiastes
It’s time to hop aboard the “My Little Pumpkin Express” … time to tour a 1777 country house by candlelight … time to snorkel in the Dry Tortugas … time to fill cornucopias … time to celebrate the holidays in the backcountry … time to snowshoe along the rim of a canyon … time to look for wildflowers. To all of these activities, there is a season—the so-called “off season” at America’s national parks. You’ve gotten a sample of them from the Ken Burns documentary America’s Best Idea, which recently aired on PBS. Now is the time to head out and see the sites Burns highlighted and the many more he didn’t. You’re aware of the majesty of places like Acadia and Yosemite. Now get to know other wonderful areas managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and find out what there is to do while you are there.
The National Park Service has developed this website to inform you about events, activities, and commercial services at the parks from September to May. It is a work in progress; we will add information to it and keep it up-to-date.
If you are planning a day or weekend trip, you may wish to check out the section called Events & Activities, so you can time your visit to coincide with an event like a farmers’ market or the illumination of a battlefield. If you have picked a spot for a long vacation or will just be on travel for business, you can discover nearby sites of interest by choosing the state of your destination (Select a State) and viewing all parks in that state.
Links above take you to information about commercial services, events, and activities at national parks and to travel tips, while clicking on the name of a park will get you travel advice specific to that park. The links to the left include Recreation.gov—a travel-planning website for federal lands (national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, etc.)—and NPS websites that can direct you to parks where you can honor America’s veterans or learn more about African American history.
Check out this website, carve out “time to” cross-country ski or visit a Continental Army encampment, and have the time of your life in the national parks. They really are “America’s best idea.”
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