Welcome !

There are nearly 400 parks, preserves, historical parks and battlefields, monuments, historic sites, memorials and other units that are part of the national park system in the United States in 2012. They attracted about 280 million visitors in 2010 and 2011.

We hope you will find our work valuable to your interest in the U.S. national parks.

These parks are found in just about every region of the nation, from remote places to busy urban areas.

Since 2002, University of Miami journalism students have prepared a series of about 550 feature and news articles with accompanying photographs, maps, lists, charts, and multimedia.

Our stories, images, and multimedia content tell you about the activities, environments, scenic rivers and recreation areas, the unusual places, monuments, historical sites, cultural heritage, museums, nearby places, and the people of Our National Parks.

Our fall 2011 projects involve Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, Joshua Tree National Park in California, Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania, and several national parks in South Florida. We also traveled Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado in spring 2011. We also reported a series of stories about issues and other matters involving the national parks and national parks system in spring and fall 2011.

We hope you will take time to view our most recent story packages.

The name of our site comes from the ground-breaking 1901 book by naturalist John Muir, Our National Parks. It is in the spirit of Muir's life-long effort to preserve some of America's most remarkable wilderness spaces that we have developed this journalistic work.

We remind readers that the information in these stories was current when it was posted, but information may have changed over time. Each article that we prepare has a posting date at the top right of the page. Always check for changes in fees, facilities, hours of operation, dates, and other information before traveling.

Featured Parks and Locations

		Joshua Tree National Park We traveled to the Mojave and Colorado deserts of Southern California in fall 2011 to visit Joshua Tree National Park near Twentynine Palms. Our work highlights the unique desert environment, its animals, Joshua trees, trails, camping, and other outdoor activities.
		Grand Teton National Park We traveled to the Grand Teton Mountains of Wyoming in fall 2011 to visit Grand Teton National Park near Jackson Hole. Our work highlights the environment, wildlife, plants and trees, trails and hiking, bicycling, the Jackson Hole art scene, and other activities.
		Rocky Mountain National Park We traveled to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in spring 2011 to visit Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park. Our work during this trip highlights the alpine environment, the animals, trees, hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities.
		Issues and Problems facing Our National Parks This unique section of our Web site examines many of the most pressing issues and problems that involve our parks at both the national and regional levels. A new set of stories is being prepared in fall 2011 and we continue to offer our work from spring 2011 and from 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007.

Page header photographs, issues photograph, and video by Bruce Garrison. Joshua Tree, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain featured parks photos by Zongchao Li. Statue of Liberty photograph courtesy of the National Park Service.