Ethan Miller / Getty Images

An aerial view of sandstone formations May 2, in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

AP reports -- SALT LAKE CITY -- A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order will require two of Utah's oldest coal-fired power plants to improve control of pollution that has drastically reduced visibility across a region that includes five national parks and redrock wilderness.

Pollution controls at a pair of PacifiCorp power plants in Emery County "do not comply with our regulations," EPA Regional Administrator James Martin wrote earlier this week in the 79-page order. He signed out the 34- and 42-year-old plants for improvement, rejecting Utah's less stringent pollution controls but upholding broader efforts by the state to reduce haze across southern Utah.

PacifiCorp said it was already upgrading pollution controls at the Hunter and Huntington power plants and planned more improvements by 2014 that would bring them into compliance with the new requirements.

Read the full story.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

An aerial view of sandstone formations May 2, in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

Slideshow: America's national parks

Nearly 400 national parks can be found all across America, and feature breathtaking vistas, rock formations millions of years old, and more.

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National Geographic

A screenshot of the National Geographic National Parks App, which offers guides to 20 of the country's most visited national parks.

Most people head to the national parks to gaze at the scenery. This summer, though, don’t be surprised if more of your fellow visitors are staring at their smartphone screens.

Chalk it up to a proliferation of new apps that offer insights on trails, points of interest and park programs — even as they raise concerns about whether technology enhances or detracts from the experience.

“My concern is that they can distance people from the parks because they’ll be glued to their phones and won’t notice what’s going on around them,” said Kurt Repanshek, editor in chief of National Parks Traveler. “A smartphone app cannot duplicate a ranger tour.”

But it can enhance it, counters National Park Service (NPS) spokesman Jeffrey Olson: “We find people are coming to the national parks today with a lot more information so it allows us to get deeper into a particular story that someone’s interested in. Rangers love it when people engage with them on a deeper level.”

Of course, that assumes people are using their phones to access park information and not to play Angry Birds at the scenic overlook. If you’re among the former, here are three new apps that can help you enjoy the national parks and other outdoor spaces this summer:

Passport to Your National Parks
Considering children are among the most tech-savvy of citizens, it’s only fitting that the 26-year-old Passport to Your National Parks program enter the digital age. The free iPhone app is designed to be a complement to the longstanding passport-booklet program in which visitors collect passport-cancellation stamps in the parks that they visit.

Related: NPS touts green themes and waives fees

Developed by Eastern National, a longtime non-profit partner of the NPS, the app (free, iOS-only) lets users search for parks by name, state, region or GPS within a 50-, 100- or 250-mile radius. Choose a park and you’re connected to a one-page summary with links to the official NPS site and buttons that let you bring up a map of cancellation stations, record your travels with photos and journal entries and highlight the parks that you still hope to visit.

Fairly intuitive and fun to use, here’s hoping version 2.0 has a QR code reader so you can forgo the accompanying booklet altogether and get digital “stamps” directly on your phone.

Sierra Club Trail Explorer
Up for a hike but not sure where to go? The newly updated Trail Explorer app from the Sierra Club (free, iOS-only) lets users browse more than 40,000 trails from local day hikes to backcountry treks in the national parks. Users can filter searches by nearly a dozen filters (proximity, difficulty, accessibility, etc.) with the results appearing in list or map form.

Tapping on a specific trail brings up a brief description, along with trail statistics, driving directions (via Google Maps) and, for share-happy hikers, user reviews and photos, links to Facebook and Twitter and a tracking feature that will record your journey. It’s impressively comprehensive with one odd omission for a trail-focused app: In a surprising number of searches, it shows the trailhead — but no trail!

National Parks by National Geographic
Just in time for National Park Week, when parks that typically charge admission waive those fees, this iPhone app from National Geographic offers guides to 20 of the country’s most visited national parks. From Acadia to Zion, the app compiles park statistics, weather reports and maps with points of interest, along with social media features, tips from the magazine’s editors and appropriately awe-inspiring images.

Related: Confessions of a national park ranger

And, in true NatGeo fashion, it’s the photos — professional, archival and user-generated — that make the app. The only catch is that the overview app and one more in-depth, park-specific guide are free; once the dazzling images draw you in, additional guides will run you $0.99–$1.99 each.

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©Superstock / via Budget Travel

A park ranger at Grand Canyon National Park.

There's a saying about park rangers: "You get paid in sunrises and sunsets." That's really true. You don't do this job for the pay. Sometimes you have to wonder why we work so hard to get these federal positions. The people who are attracted to the job are outsiders — they enjoy solitude, they enjoy nature. It's the most unlikely group of people you'd expect to want to work with the federal government. And you have to give up a lot. It's extremely difficult to have a family or meet someone. You work seasonal positions for years until you finally get a permanent spot, only to realize you like a seasonal girl who's not going to be around in six months.

Two parts action-adventure flick, one part 'Office Space'
I've had moments where the job is as exciting as anything you can imagine. You're fighting wildfires, getting lowered from helicopters on a rescue, chasing someone down with a gun on your side, going out on a manhunt. Then sometimes you're directing traffic or dealing with the bureaucracy of the federal government. 

Lost from the get-go
It doesn't matter which park you're working, people are like deer in the headlights. They're totally out of their element, they don't know where anything is, and half the time they haven't done any research before their trip. At the Grand Canyon, people will show up on the North Rim only to find out they're on the wrong side — and then they're shocked that they have to drive all the way around the canyon to get to the South Rim. I had one lady bawling when I told her it was a five-and-a-half-hour drive to the other side. She was like, "There's no bridge?!"

No common sense
There's no shortage of stupidity when it comes to what people will do. They'll sit right at the edge of the canyon, where there are no guardrails and it's a 1,000-foot drop. And people forget that they're at 8,500 feet. They wonder why they're having chest pains. They think they're having a heart attack, and we have to remind them it's the altitude. Then there are always people who hike down into the canyon and are totally unprepared — no water, no idea how long it will take. They don't realize there's a big change in temperature and conditions when you drop from 8,500 feet to 2,200 feet. That's one of our most common rescues. They always say they were so in awe of the beauty that they didn't realize how far they'd gone.

Slideshow: National spectacles

Nearly 400 national parks can be found all across America, and feature breathtaking vistas, rock formations millions of years old, and more.

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People will do anything for a picture
It's absolutely astounding what people will do just to prove they saw something. They'll jump from rock pillar to rock pillar — nothing below — just to get the right angle for a shot of the canyon. Sometimes someone's camera falls over the edge and they're crawling over to try to get it. Or they'll stop in the middle of the road, with cars behind them, just to get a picture of a deer (you know, we've all seen deer, but these are deer with the Grand Canyon in the background).

Americans are the worst
I've seen far more interest from foreigners in our national parks than by Americans. You'll be talking to someone from New Zealand and they're asking you about the geography, the culture, the history. And then an American asks you where the burger stand is.

I'll let you in on a secret — maybe
People are always asking where the best place in the park is, or where they should go to watch the sunset. If I can tell someone is really interested, I'll probably tell him. But if it's some entitled jackass who rushes up to me like, "Hey, man, I got 20 minutes in the park. What's the absolutebestspot?"— no way. And then sometimes you do share, and it backfires. Someone once told me I ruined his vacation because I gave him the wrong place to watch the sunset.

Slideshow: America’s lesser-known national parks

Stephen Saks / Lonely Planet Images

Each offers a unique take on the American landscape, the nation's history and our collective culture. Best of all, you won't have to fight the crowds along the way.

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Being a member has its privileges
In any profession, you're going to get certain privileges, but I try not to take advantage of my position. But yeah, there have been times when I've gotten pulled over, and I made sure my badge was right next to my driver's license so the cop sees it. There's kind of an understanding.

When the moment is right
There's something about national parks. You're in an unbelievably romantic place. It gets your juices flowing, creates a spark. Things happen. There are definitely times when a ranger has to approach a car because the windows are a bit steamy. But sometimes we turn a blind eye to it. We're all human.

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Getty Images, file

Pedestrians walk through a cloud of dust and diesel exhaust from a transit bus near Yosemite Village on June 16, 2000, in Yosemite National Park. The National Park Service unveiled an initiative Thursday that aims to focus on conservation, in part by reducing fossil fuel consumption in NPS vehicles by 20 percent by 2015.

It’s not easy being green, but the National Park Service (NPS) has decided it’s worth the effort.

On Thursday, the agency that oversees 397 units comprising 84 million acres of land across the country unveiled a new plan to integrate sustainable practices into all aspects of its operations. Announced by NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis, the plan sets out ambitious goals for conserving energy and water, reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and limiting waste.

"The Green Parks Plan asks each park and office to review routine activities, operations and programs and reflect on how we manage our work to prioritize actions and leverage existing funds to lessen our impact on the environment,” said Jarvis. “Much of our success will hinge on adopting sustainability as a guiding value and embedding it in what we do, every day.

The nine-point plan covers everything from purchasing decisions and waste management to vehicle use and construction projects. Among the goals:

• Reduce GHG emissions from on-site fossil fuel and electricity consumption by 35 percent by 2020 from a baseline set in 2008.
• Reduce fossil fuel consumption in NPS vehicles by 20 percent by 2015 from the 2005 baseline.
• Reduce system-wide building energy costs by 35 percent by 2016 from the 2003 baseline.
• Reduce “water use intensity” (gallons per square foot of facility space) by 30 percent by 2020 from the 2007 baseline.
• Divert 50 percent of annual solid waste from landfills by 2015.

It won’t be easy given the current budget environment and the fact that the NPS manages more than 4 million acres of maintained landscapes, such as campgrounds and battlefields; more than 3,000 utility systems, and more than 67,000 structures.

“Unfortunately, the Park Service has lagged a bit — not through a lack of commitment but because of their fiscal reality,” said Mark Wenzler, vice president for climate and air quality programs at the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). “You can’t make it into a clean, green machine overnight.”

Still, there has already been progress as new facilities and operations adopt more sustainable practices. Among them:

• John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Ore.: Using solar power and other energy-saving systems, the ranger residence in the monument’s Painted Hills Unit is so efficient, it meets all its own energy needs with enough left over to charge the site’s utility vehicle.
• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Calif.: Set to open on June 9, the Anthony C. Beilenson Interagency Visitor Center scores high on several sustainability fronts. It’s being built in the repurposed stables of the King Gillette Ranch (lower construction costs), it will be shared by four agencies (fewer buildings required) and it will meet its own energy needs via a 95-kW solar array.
• Mammoth Cave National Park, Ky.: On April 27, park officials will cut the ribbon on several green vehicles, including four propane buses, two propane pickup trucks and a small Global Electric Motorcar. They’ll replace four older buses (three 1990 models and one from 1977), two bi-fuel pickup trucks and a gas-powered golf cart.

In and of themselves, such efforts may seem small but they also serve as examples that can inspire park visitors to adopt more sustainable practices, says Wenzler: “When you think of parks, you don’t think of them as big polluters but they get almost 300 million visitors every year that they can influence.”

That’s especially pertinent now, he added, noting that National Park Week (April 21–29), when the parks that charge admission waive those fees, starts Saturday and the summer travel season is around the corner.

“As we approach the heavy visitor season, it’s really important that the parks show what they’re doing to address climate change and sustainability,” he told msnbc.com.

Or, as Kate Kuykendall, public affairs officer for the Santa Monica Mountains unit, put it: “This is the Park Service walking the walk.”

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

More on Itineraries

• See a national park, save some cash
• Volunteers give back to national parks
• Video: America's most-visited monuments

Slideshow: National spectacles

Nearly 400 national parks can be found all across America, and feature breathtaking vistas, rock formations millions of years old, and more.

Launch slideshow

In an announcement made earlier this week, the Department of Transportation will spend nearly $41 million to improve access to America’s national parks, forests and wildlife refuges and upgrade older transportation infrastructure within those spaces.
 
The funding, which is being provided by the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program, will be allocated to 58 projects in 24 states around the country. The District of Columbia will also receive funding. The awarded projects aim to conserve natural, historical and cultural resources, and reduce congestion and pollution.
 
Projects range from redesigning and widening the Nauset Bicycle Trail at Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts to purchasing new fuel-efficient buses to transport visitors between Sausalito and the Muir Woods National Monument in California. A full list of the projects can be viewed here (PDF).
 
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, outside Cleveland, Ohio, will receive five grants totaling $3.2 million for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, an attraction the FTA said has been successful and popular. Projects planned include the installation of a pedestrian bridge, rehabilitation of a bicycle transport baggage car, and repairs and design improvements for an older wheelchair-accessible rail car.
 
“Our nation’s scenic parklands and protected areas are national treasures attracting millions of visitors each year,” DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “It’s vitally important to preserve and protect these lands for today’s visitors as well as future generations by investing in safe, accessible and environmentally sustainable transportation.”
 
Derrick A. Crandall, president of American Recreation Coalition, a Washington-based nonprofit organization, said the new funding may help boost international tourism. “It’s equipping our parks to better serve 21st century American travelers,” Crandall said, “and is a huge opportunity to regain our share of international tourism.” 
 
According to the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group, global long-haul travel increased by 40 percent from 2000 to 2010. The United States’ share, however, shrunk to 12.4 percent from 17 percent. As a result, the United States lost 78 million potential visitors who would have generated $606 billion in spending, the association said.

Story: Travel experts applaud Obama's pro-tourism measures

Char Miller, director of the environmental analysis program at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., said the spending is “only a shot in the arm.” Fixing all of the ailing roads, bridges and trails in parks around the country would take more than $41 million, Miller said. 
 
The National Park Service lost roughly $400 million from its budget from a decade ago. Since then, President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama added incrementally to its funding, but the budget has since been cut and remains below levels from the 1990s, according to Miller.
 
“We can do better,” Miller said. “We should do better.” 
 
John Garder, who handles budgetary affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, said the overall budget is currently $167 million less than it was two years ago. “The National Park Service is hundreds of millions of dollars short each year from what is needed to adequately address the operating and maintenance needs of the parks,” he said.

Jack S. Ezon, president of the corporate travel agency Ovation Vacations, has visited and hiked in many of the world’s national parks. Although excited about the new funding, Ezon is concerned that it might mean additional traffic to the parks, which could result in a more commercial, less pristine environment. 

“But it’s still a net gain for us,” he said. “It gives people a great appreciation for our land, making them more sensitive to the environment and more committed about taking care of our planet.”

Related stories:

• Parks in peril: Budget impasse could take a major toll
• Best national parks to visit during winter
• Volunteers give back to national parks
• Where are the people of color in national parks?

Slideshow: National spectacles

Nearly 400 national parks can be found all across America, and feature breathtaking vistas, rock formations millions of years old, and more.

Launch slideshow

The National Park Service (NPS) is putting out the welcome mat. In an effort to introduce more people to America’s national parks — and to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. — NPS is waiving admission fees at parks that typically charge them Jan. 14–16.

“Obviously, we want people to go visit any national park but we thought this was a good time to honor Dr. King — or any other famous American,” said NPS spokesperson Kathy Kupper. “Around 250 of the national parks are historic sites that memorialize people or events so it’s a nice time to do that.”

Under the fee-free program, the 147 park units that typically charge admission will waive such fees on 17 days this year, including National Park Week (April 21–29), Get Outdoors Day (June 9), National Public Lands Day (Sept. 29) and Veterans Day weekend (Nov. 10–12).

During non-fee-free periods, admission fees at many parks are as low as $4–$5 but they can range as high as $25 per vehicle at larger Western parks, such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon.

“At a place like Yosemite [$20 per vehicle], someone might otherwise think, gee, I can’t afford to go,” said John Poimiroo, CEO of the National Parks Promotion Council, a non-profit parks advocacy group. “This takes away that hesitancy.”

And winter is a great time to get into the parks, says Bryan Faehner, associate director of park use for the National Parks Conservation Association. “You get a fuller picture of why the parks are unique,” he said. “In the Everglades, you’ll see bird species you won’t see at other times of the year. On a freezing day at Valley Forge, you can really see what early American soldiers went through.”

This weekend also represents a good time to explore the legacy of Dr. King as some park units will be offering special commemorative programming:

• On Jan 13, elementary school students will recite Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (which is always free).
• Throughout the weekend, the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (also free) will screen the six-part series “Eyes on the Prize,” which chronicles the Civil Rights movement from 1954 to 1965.
• On Sunday, rangers at Morristown National Historical Park will lead “Bound to Serve” tours of the Ford Mansion, chronicling the lives of the slaves who served George Washington and his troops during the winter of 1779–1780. (The $4 admission will be waived all weekend.)

As for park system in general, Kupper offers another incentive to take advantage of this weekend’s no-cost promotion: “It’s a new year,” she told msnbc.com. “It’s a good time to keep that New Year’s resolution, whether you said you were going to spend more time with the family or get out in nature or learn some history.

“It’s all that, rolled into one.”

Slideshow: America’s lesser-known national parks

Each offers a unique take on the American landscape, the nation's history and our collective culture. Best of all, you won't have to fight the crowds along the way.

Launch slideshow

More stories you might like:

• Best national parks to visit during winter
• Birds and spirits soar at January eagle fests
• Campy digs in the Catskills

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

Lots of folks know about Yosemite’s festive lodges in the winter, the excitement of viewing buffalo in the snow at Yellowstone or alligator spotting in the Everglades. Emphasis on lots of people. But there are a number of other lesser known national parks that are gems in the winter, when crowds are down, stargazing is amazing and temperatures range from temperate to pretty terrific.

“Some of the beauty of going to any of the parks in the wintertime is that you’re not going to encounter the crowds you would in the summer or fall,” said Kurt Repanshek, editor of National Parks Traveler, a website devoted to the national parks.

Slideshow: America's lesser-known national parks

Repanshek, who has had a lifelong passion for preserving and protecting national parks, says some of the most memorable visits he’s made to many of the parks happened in the off-season. One of his faves: Virgin Islands National Park on the island of St. John. The park includes 5,650 acres of submerged lands that protects beautiful coral gardens and seascapes.

“Ideally, visit in the wintertime if you’re sick of the slush and snow and all that,” said Repanshek, who loves to snorkel the park’s waters and hike its trails. “It’s 75 to 80 degrees in the winter, no humidity, with beautiful turquoise water.”

Other notable parks to visit in winter:

Death Valley

Alamy

Late winter or early spring is a good time to see wildflowers in Death Valley National Park, Calif.

Yes, you could visit during the park's hottest season — summer (it hit 134 degrees here once) — but winter, when temperatures can average from the 50s to the low 70s, is when the park's 3.5 million acres really allow fun. “I went to Death Valley in (the winter) about three years ago and it was almost a little chilly — 55 degrees,” Repanshek said. “It’s just nicer to have those milder temperatures to enjoy the sand dunes and hiking in some of the canyons.”

Death Valley has great stargazing in winter, but later in that season or early spring, visitors may be lucky enough to come following one of the park’s brief rainy periods, which unleashes cactus blooms and wildflowers, he said.

Biscayne Bay

Copyright Thomas M. Strom / National Parks Conservation Asso

Biscayne National Park near Miami has the third largest coral reef ecosystem in the world.

National parks also include underwater ocean wonders such as those found at this treasure near Miami. This park obviously offers lovely weather in winter, plus abundant water sports. Just 5 percent of this park is land, so it’s all about the ocean, including the third largest coral reef ecosystem in the world. It’s possible to view the reef’s plants and animals by glass-bottom boat, including a chance to glimpse fish, shrimp, crabs and lobsters. “It is incredible to see the marine world at Biscayne National Park,” said John Adornato, Sun Coast regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association. “The coral reef and reef fish are absolutely spectacular.”

Channel Islands National Park

National Park Service

Channel Islands National Park off the Southern California coast has plants and animals found nowhere else, including the island fox.

Amazing marine animals are on offer in the waters around these Southern California islands in winter: whales, dolphins and porpoises. (Possibilities: gray, blue, humpback, minke, sperm and pilot whales, orcas and dolphins.) The park, accessible by park concessionaire boats and planes from Ventura, is made up of five separate islands, all with varied terrain, wildflowers and views. “It’s called the Galapagos of the United States,” said Neal Desai, Pacific Region associate director for National Parks Conservation Association. “(Each island) has unique plants and animals found nowhere else. If you’re out there, you may well have the opportunity to see an island fox, which is the size of a house cat.”

Even though it’s only an hour’s drive from Los Angeles, plus the boat ride to get to the islands, it can be very peaceful, Desai said. “It’s so close to Los Angeles, but not so many people know about this national park. I like it a lot — it’s a complete package. There’s everything from hiking to bird watching to sea activities like kayaking you can do, even snorkeling.”

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park

National Park Service

At Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, visitors can learn about how the explorers lived and worked.

Visitors may contend with rain in the winter, but it’s still very temperate and mild compared to much of the country, minus the traffic and crowds of summer. Visitors following the trail of the famous explorers can experience rain forest, the Columbia River and the drop-dead gorgeous Pacific Coast. A highlight: visiting a replica of Fort Clatsop, the fort built by the explorers to winter over in. Fort Clatsop also features interpretive costumed rangers and trailheads for some amazing hikes.

“It’s probably one of the hidden gems of the national park system,” said Sean Smith, Northwest policy director for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Fort Clatsop is a great destination for families, because it can teach so much about how the explorers lived and worked, Smith said. “It was built using period tools and techniques. They had detailed notes that Lewis and Clark made, including the number of logs used. Trees aren’t as big now, so they but had to use more logs.”

The park overall incorporates some state parks, with sites on both the Oregon and Washington side of the river as well as the Pacific Ocean, he cautioned, so driving can take some time between stops.

Winter is a great time to visit, he added, to truly get a sense of conditions the explorers experienced. “(Lewis and Clark) would have spent their time on the Oregon and Washington coasts in the winter months, so they would have been seeing a climate and winter much like a current visitor does.”

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Beth Harpaz / AP

This towering sandstone formation in Arches National Park is called Park Avenue because it resembles a city skyline.

This weekend, America’s best idea — the national parks — will do you one better. In honor of Veterans Day, parks that usually charge admission will waive those fees Nov. 11–13.

“In 2007, the government decided to waive fees for veterans, members of the military and their families,” said National Park Service spokesperson Kathy Kupper. “Over the next two years, it evolved with the idea that everyone should come out and celebrate what veterans have done.”

As the last of this year’s 17 fee-free days, this weekend offers a great opportunity to save some money while soaking up the scenery, history or culture at the 100-plus parks, monuments and historic sites that typically charge admission fees.

“It’s a great excuse if you want to get out into the parks before winter sets in,” said Kurt Repanshek, editor in chief of the online magazine National Parks Traveler. Depending on the park, smaller crowds and cooler temperatures can provide the perfect setting for a great day trip or weekend getaway.

Slideshow: America's lesser-known national parks

Among the options:

Arches National Park
The 2,000-plus sandstone arches that define this park in southeast Utah are spectacular any time of year but, according to Repanshek, fall is especially ideal.

“You escape the heat, the crowds are non-existent and you get that great fall sunlight that lights up all that red rock,” he said.

For a good scenic tour, Assistant Superintendent Paul Henderson suggests hiking to several of the park’s iconic features, including Balanced Rock (a 0.3-mile loop), The Windows area (1 mile) and Delicate Arch (3 miles roundtrip).

Everglades National Park
Lower temperatures, fewer bugs and huge flocks of migrating birds make November prime time for visiting this watery park in South Florida.

For day-trippers, Public Information Officer Linda Friar recommends heading to Shark Valley, where you can take a tram tour (fee) or ride a bike along a 15-mile paved loop road. If you have more time, make the 38-mile drive to Flamingo, where you can rent canoes, kayaks and motorized skiffs for more in-depth explorations of Florida Bay.

And for history buffs, this weekend offers the chance to tour the park’s Nike Hercules Missile Base, a historic site where armed nuclear missiles were installed in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. On Saturday, park personnel and veterans of the Nike program will lead tours, show historic video footage and answer questions

Joshua Tree National Park
Most visitors to this park in Southern California focus their attention on its western end, where the Mojave Desert supports stands of its eponymous tree.

For something different, consider visiting the park’s eastern half where the Colorado Desert can offer some pleasant surprises. In September, for example, this area of the park experienced heavy rains that are expected to lead to a spring-like explosion of wildflowers this month.

“You’re in the desert but some of the biological processes can happen any time of the year,” said Chief Naturalist Joe Zarki. “Some years, you can go on a hike in November and see 75 different species of flowers.”

Mammoth Cave National Park
The weather outside may be frightful but at this underground park in Kentucky, that’s hardly a problem. And this weekend, the park is waiving the standard $5 fee for its guided Mammoth Passage tours, which offer an excellent introduction to the park’s geology, history and wildlife.

For those who want to know more — and don’t mind paying for the privilege — the park is also sponsoring a special program called “Roots in the Cave – Pioneers of Discovery.” Held in conjunction with the Mammoth Cave Hotel, the program ($25) includes a special tour of the cave’s Gothic Avenue area and a panel discussion on early cave explorer Warner P. “Pete” Hanson.

Big national parks aside, this weekend also offers an excellent opportunity to explore some of the monuments, memorials and other NPS units dedicated to the nation’s military history. In addition to waiving admission fees, several are putting on living-history re-enactments that provide insights into battles gone by.

Interested in the Civil War? Head to Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia, where re-enactors will recreate the daily life of soldiers in 1862–1863. Prefer to go back further? Consider Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in Florida, where staffers will demonstrate the weapons used by colonial Spanish soldiers of the 1740s.

And if it’s the big picture you seek, head to Fort Moultrie National Monument, in South Carolina, where living-history programs on Friday and Saturday will showcase uniforms, weapons and procedures from the Revolutionary War to World War II.

More stories you might like:

• Parks in peril: Budget impasse could take a major toll
• Eons of natural history on display at new Utah museum
• Volunteers give back to national parks
• What's ailing America's national parks?

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

Come this Saturday, you’ll have no excuse for staying indoors as Sept. 24 is National Public Lands Day. It is the country’s largest single-day volunteer event for public lands, according to the National Environmental Education Foundation, which organizes the festivities.

Volunteers give back to national park

It is also the year’s last fee-free day at national parks and other federally-managed sites that charge an admission fee. Participants at those sites will not only get in free on Saturday, they’ll also receive a coupon for a second free day.

National Public Lands Day was launched in 1994 with three sites and 700 volunteers. Last year, it drew 170,000 participants to 2,080 projects, many of them in some surprising places like waterways, wilderness areas and grasslands that are overshadowed by the crown jewels of the national park system.

“Public lands are all around us,” said Robb Hampton, program director for National Public Lands Day. “While our national parks represent some of our most iconic public lands, there is also a magnificent and rich diversity of other federal, state and local public lands.”

Here are just a few of the many National Public Lands Day volunteer opportunities in those lesser-known destinations:

• As part of the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management oversees more land than any other federal agency in the country: more than 245 million acres, mostly in the Western states. Its multiple-use mission encompasses everything from recreation to resource extraction.

Projects on these lands include planting native cottonwoods along the Ruby-Horsethief section of the Colorado River in Grand Junction, Colo., installing signs and fencing at the Overland Trail Interpretive Site in Rock Springs, Wyo., and helping to inventory petroglyphs at Mesa Prieta in Taos, N. M.

• As the manager of the nation’s water supply, the Bureau of Reclamation is best known for its dams and reservoirs and the irrigation and hydroelectric power they produce. However, it also manages 289 recreation sites that attract 90 million visitors per year.

On Saturday, volunteers who help clear brush and pick up litter at the Shasta Lake Fishermen’s Point Day Use Area in California can enjoy a barbecue lunch and receive a T-shirt.

• Although better known for engineering, construction and flood control, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is no slacker in the recreation department: Its 422 lake and river projects host more than 370 million visitors per year.

Volunteer options on Saturday include a cleanup (with cash prizes) at Lake Ouachita in Arkansas, building and installing nest boxes for western blue birds at Lost Creek Lake in Trail, Ore., and planting trees and restoring horseshoe pits and sand volleyball courts at Whitney/Aquilla Lakes in Clifton, Texas.

• With 155 national forests, 20 national grasslands and 193 million acres spread across 42 states (and Puerto Rico), U.S. Forest Service lands see heavy visitation — one reason, perhaps, that the U.S. Forest Services is hosting more than 60 events this weekend.

Among the options: a celebration of a new trail and public access to Caywood Point in the Finger Lakes National Forest in New York; trail building and a cleanup at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in Kentucky; and hikes, bike rides and a camping demo in the Big Creek Scenic Area in the Sam Houston National Forest/Stubble Recreation Area in New Waverly, Texas.

The above represent only a handful of the projects on tap for this year’s event and don’t include ones hosted by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and dozens of state agencies and local groups.

For a complete list, visit the National Public Lands Day website and click on the Find a Site link, where you can pick projects by state or zip code.

Related stories:

• America the beautiful -- in pictures
• What's ailing America's national parks?
• America's most endangered historic places

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

Courtesy of the Miltimores

Jim and Carol Miltimore on the shore of Hidden Lake in 2006 in Mount Rainier National Park.

When Jim and Carol Miltimore approached officials at Mount Rainier National Park about volunteering, they thought the retired couple might spend a sunny afternoon bagging trash.

They had no idea that six years later, the Enumclaw, Wash., couple would log more hours in the pristine park than many native bears.

In six years, Jim, 70, and Carol, 63, have logged more than 12,000 volunteer hours making the 378-square mile park cleaner, more accessible and ever-luscious.

“They are this sweet couple who upon retiring they didn’t want to golf, they wanted to give back to something they really believe in and that’s the national park system,” says Kevin Bacher, volunteer program coordinator for the National Park Service. “They’ll dig ditches, clean restrooms, clear trails and spend hours working in the park library system. There’s nothing they won’t do.”

Imagine the impact on the national deficit if every able-bodied man and women in America contributed on behalf of the federal government the way the Miltimores do for free.

And they consider it their privilege.

“We’re avid hikers and nature lovers and, really, I think we get more out of it than the park does,” says Carol, a retired data analyst. “The scenery is breathtaking. Just yesterday I was up working in a field of wildflowers at 6,400 feet with Mount Rainier in its full glory. It was magnificent.”

Those opportunities abound in our national parks, an institution referred to in a recent Ken Burns PBS documentary as “America’s Best Idea.”

Go to www.nps.gov/volunteer and scroll through the options that let would-be volunteers across the nation select where they want to work, how often they’re available and what level of exertion they’re prepared to dispense.

“We’re friends with a volunteer who saved the park service $500,000 by designing them a bridge,” says Jim, a retired chemist. “People volunteer video services, labor — you name it.”

Acting park superintendent Randy King says park volunteers enjoy a spiritual connection to the land that borders on the mystical.

“It’s just a great way for people to give back,” King says. “Volunteers form a deep connection to the land.”

The Miltimores spend as many as six days and nights a week at the park, sometimes sleeping in cabins they helped construct.

Such devotion is not without sacrifice.

“We can’t have pets and our garden is on its own,” Carol says. “But here at the park we get to see plenty of ground squirrels, marmots, mountain goats and bears. Just last week a big bear charged Jim.”

Jim says it was just a “bluff charge,” something a bear does half-heartedly to try and make itself look superior.

“He wasn’t serious,” he says. “If he was, I’d have been lunch.”

Or maybe the bear simply sensed that the Miltimores are part of Mount Rainier National Park.

More on Overhead Bin

• 17th person dies at Yosemite National Park
• What's behind all the deaths at Yosemite? 
• Hot as Hell? Stay Cool in these destinations 

Chris Rodell is a Latrobe, Pa., contributor who blogs at www.EightDaysToAmish.com.