Trace Collins

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park (Northern lights over the Tetons)

Grand Teton National Park (Lakes below the Tetons)

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park (Today's Park Report & News) Today, Veterans Day, entrance is free for U.S. citizens and residents at every national park that charges a fee, including Grand Teton. The park is open 24 hours a day, all year, but it's in its quiet season now. Since Nov. 1, the Teton Park Road has been closed to cars from the Taggart Lake Trailhead to Signal Mountain Lodge. Until snow covers it, you can walk, run or bike the closed road, and leashed pets are allowed on it. The park's elk reduction program, run with Wyoming Game and Fish, starts Nov. 14 and runs through Dec. 6 in Hunt Area 75. Those areas stay open to visitors, and the park asks you to wear bright colors. Fire crews may also be burning brush piles near Colter Bay, Beaver Creek, Elk Ranch and Kelly Pit, so you may see smoke. Roads: The park's main highways are plowed and open all winter from Jackson to Flagg Ranch. Expect 20-minute delays south of Moran Junction for riverbank repair work. The Moose-Wilson Road is closed between the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve and Moose, and Death Canyon Road and Trailhead are closed to all use for construction. Secondary roads such as Antelope Flats and Schwabacher close as the weather turns. Construction pauses for the winter on Nov. 15. Trails: The north segment of the Taggart Lake Trail is closed for reconstruction, but Taggart and Bradley lakes are still reachable by the southern route. Mormon Row is open, though some buildings are closed for construction. Black and grizzly bears are still active, even this late in the year, so hike in groups of three or more, make noise and carry bear spray. Camping and fees: A private vehicle pass is $35, a motorcycle $30 and a walk-in or bicycle $20 per person, all good for 7 days. The park doesn't take cash. Non-U.S. residents 16 and older pay an extra $100 unless they hold an annual pass. All park campgrounds are closed for the season, as are the visitor centers, lodges and marinas. On Jackson Lake, the water is low and Signal Mountain is the only boat ramp open. NPS recommends hand launching there, at your own risk. The park keeps most of its entrance fees and spends about $9 million a year on roads, trails, pathways and habitat. Best hike: Taggart Lake. NPS lists it at 3 miles round trip with 360 feet of gain, rated easy, about 1 to 2 hours. With the north segment closed for construction, plan on the southern route, about 4.25 miles round trip (Grand Teton National Park Foundation). AllTrails lists the Taggart Lake Loop at 3.8 miles and 426 feet of gain, with 4.8 stars from about 12,500 reviews. It's known for some of the best close-up views of the Teton Range: you climb an aspen-covered glacial moraine to a lake at the mouth of Avalanche Canyon. Tip: The trailhead sits just south of the road closure, so you can still drive to it. Once snow falls, bring snowshoes or skis. Grand Teton quick facts: -Became a national park: 1929. -Known for: The Teton Range, which rises about 7,000 feet straight out of the valley of Jackson Hole with no foothills, topped by the 13,775-foot Grand Teton. The park also protects the Snake River, Jackson Lake and elk, bison, moose and pronghorn. Seasonal closures: The Teton Park Road is closed to cars from Nov. 1 to April 30, and it's groomed for skiing and snowshoeing from mid-December to mid-March. The Moose-Wilson Road is closed from Nov. 1 until mid-May. The Deadmans Bar and Pacific Creek river launches close for winter wildlife on Dec. 15. Best time to visit: May through September is the busy season, when the roads and facilities are open. Fall brings golden aspens and bugling elk. Winter is quiet, with sunny days between storms, frigid nights and snow over the valley. Tip: Get to Mormon Row or the Snake River Overlook before sunrise. The range faces east, so first light turns the peaks pink and gold. Carry winter gear in the car, because snow can come in any month. TRACE take: Grand Teton in November is the park with the crowds gone and the elk moving down from the high country. Go today while it's free, walk the empty Teton Park Road, and watch the light hit the range.

Grand Teton National Park (Today's Nonprofit Conservation Report) Grand Teton National Park Foundation raises private money for projects the park's budget can't fully cover. It says it has raised more than $150 million to strengthen and sustain the park. Much of that money goes to trails. Its biggest current project with the park is Reimagining Taggart Lake, a multi-year rebuild of one of the park's busiest hikes. Crews are fixing years of erosion, improving drainage and laying stone and gravel surfaces on the steep sections. Once this phase is done, the trail to the first bridge will be accessible to visitors using frontcountry wheelchairs. The nearby Cottonwood Creek Picnic Area is being rebuilt with a shade structure and an accessible surface. In the backcountry, the Foundation has supported a multi-year renewal of the Teton Crest Trail. This summer, crews reshaped and drained a section near Marion Lake that hadn't been worked on in over a decade. The Foundation also committed to raising $61,200 for the first phase of work at Delta Lake, where social media and GPS apps turned a remote, trail-free spot into a place hundreds of hikers visit a day. Access Fund and park crews, with local volunteers and Jenny Lake rangers, pulled a tangle of eroding paths into one route. A second partner helps too. Grand Teton Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs park stores and gives 100% of its store profits back to public lands in the Teton region, supporting education, interpretation and research. TRACE take: Popularity wears a park out, one footstep at a time. At Grand Teton, the people who love it are paying to rebuild the trails they walk on.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park (Snow on the hoodoos)

Bryce Canyon National Park (The Bryce Amphitheater)

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah (Snow, spires and the southern rim)

Bryce Canyon National Park (Today's Park Report & News) Bryce Canyon is open 24 hours a day with no entry reservation, and tomorrow is a good day to go: Veterans Day, Nov. 11, is an entrance fee-free day for U.S. citizens and residents at every national park that charges a fee. On the trails, Wall Street and the Bryce Connector Trail (Bryce Point to the Peekaboo Loop) are closed until further notice after recent weather. Other trails are open, but NPS warns that freezing nights make rockfall more likely during the day. The park also has a new way to Bryce Point: the final 2.7-mile segment of the paved, 24-mile Shared Use Path is done, linking Bryce Point to Red Canyon in Dixie National Forest, with stops at the visitor center, Sunrise, Sunset and Inspiration points, the lodge and both campgrounds. Roads: The main park road is open. Storms can close roads until plows clear them, so check the park alerts and UDOT before you drive. The free shuttle ended for the season on Oct. 20, so bring your own car or bike. Bikes are allowed on the Shared Use Path but not on the Rim Trail or at the overlooks. Trails: The Navajo Loop's Two Bridges side stays open in winter while Wall Street is closed. Queen's Garden, the Rim Trail, Peekaboo Loop and Fairyland Loop are open. The backcountry Under-the-Rim Trail is badly deteriorated in many places, so hike it only with strong navigation skills, knowing rescue may be slow. Camping and fees: A private vehicle pass is $35, a motorcycle $30 and a walk-in or bicycle $20 per person, all good for 7 days. The park doesn't take cash, so bring a card. Non-U.S. residents 16 and older pay an extra $100 unless they hold an annual pass. North Campground is open all year by reservation at $30 a night, and Sunset Campground is closed for the winter. The dump station is closed for the season and the drinking fountains are being winterized, so fill up before you come. The visitor center is on winter hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Best hike: Queen's/Navajo Combination Loop, 2.9 miles round trip with 625 feet of gain, rated moderate, about 2 to 3 hours (NPS). AllTrails lists it at 3 miles and 629 feet of gain, with 4.9 stars from about 37,000 reviews. It's known as the park's most popular hike and the one rangers recommend to first-time visitors: down Queen's Garden from Sunrise Point among the hoodoos, then up the Navajo Loop switchbacks to Sunset Point, and back on the Rim Trail. Tip: With Wall Street closed, climb out on the Two Bridges side, and hike it clockwise as NPS recommends. Bryce Canyon quick facts: -Became a national park: 1928. -Known for: The greatest concentration of hoodoos on Earth, carved from the Claron Formation by frost and rain. The rim climbs to 9,115 feet at Rainbow Point, and the park is a certified International Dark Sky Park. Seasonal closures: Wall Street closes in winter. Sunset Campground is closed for the season, and the shuttle and dump station are done for the year. The visitor center closes on Christmas Day and closes early on Christmas Eve. Best time to visit: May through September is the busiest season. Fall and winter are quieter, with low light on the hoodoos and snow on the rim, but nights drop below freezing nearly every night from October to May. Tip: Get to Sunrise Point or Inspiration Point early. The amphitheater faces east, so first light turns the hoodoos orange. Once snow falls, carry traction for your boots on the steep trails into the canyon. TRACE take: Bryce in November gives you the park's best light with a fraction of the summer crowd. Go tomorrow while it's free, watch sunrise from the rim, then walk down among the hoodoos on Queen's Garden.

Bryce Canyon National Park (Today's Nonprofit Conservation Report) Bryce Canyon Association is the park's official nonprofit partner. It's a 501(c)(3) that runs the bookstore in the visitor center and supports both Bryce Canyon National Park and Dixie National Forest. Since 1961, it has provided more than $9 million in support. That money goes to things the park's regular budget doesn't cover well. The association pays for the free Hoodoo newspaper and hiking maps, the Junior Ranger program, and the park's annual Astronomy and Geology festivals. It funds wildlife studies on mountain lions, black bears and the threatened Utah prairie dog, supports the Christmas Bird Count, and pays for interns who help with visitor services and geology. It also funds geologic hazard mapping, which matters in a park where freezing nights loosen rock on the trails, and the Kwiyamuntsi Youth Camp. Two other partnerships help. The Lodge at Bryce Canyon and Ruby's Inn run a $1 donation program, where guests can give a dollar each night they stay. It has raised more than $900,000 to pay for seasonal employees and visitor services. And Southern Utah University's Alliance for Education with the park sends students out on conservation crews and internships. The trail need is real. NPS says the backcountry Under-the-Rim Trail has deteriorated in many places, and Wall Street and the Bryce Connector Trail are closed right now after recent weather. TRACE take: Bryce's hoodoos are always falling apart, and that's how they're made. Keeping the trails, maps and science going around them falls to a bookstore nonprofit, some hotel guests giving a dollar a night, and students willing to work.

Hot Springs National Park

Hot Springs National Park (Thermal water on Hot Springs Mountain)

Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas (Bathhouse Row and the Grand Promenade)

Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas (The mountains above the springs)