national parks Archives

Planning a visit to Sentinel Beach in Yosemite National Park, California

Sentinel Beach is a picnic area and seasonal river access point located on the south side of California's Yosemite Valley along Southside Drive. The site sits beneath towering Sentinel Rock, a 3,000-foot granite monolith on the valley's southern wall. This 2026 visitor guide covers access…

The giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, California.

Planning a visit to the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, California

The Mariposa Grove is the largest giant sequoia grove in Yosemite National Park, California, containing over 500 mature giant sequoias. Located in the southern portion of Yosemite near the South Entrance, the grove is home to famous trees including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant, the California…

Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park, California.

Planning a visit to Yosemite Falls: Guide with fees, best times

Yosemite Falls is one of the tallest waterfalls in North America, dropping a total of 2,425 feet in three separate sections. The waterfall consists of Upper Yosemite Fall (1,430 feet), the middle cascades (675 feet), and Lower Yosemite Fall (320 feet). This 2026 visitor guide…

Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite National Park, California.

Visiting Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite National Park: Guide with fees, parking & tips

Bridalveil Fall is one of Yosemite Valley's most prominent waterfalls, plunging 620 feet from the southern valley wall. This California waterfall flows year-round and is often the first major feature visitors see when entering Yosemite Valley from the south. This 2026 visitor guide covers access…

Planning a visit to the Tuolumne Grove in Yosemite National Park, California

The Tuolumne Grove is one of three giant sequoia groves in Yosemite National Park, California, containing approximately two dozen mature giant sequoia trees. This 2026 visitor guide covers access times, park entrance fees, how to get there, parking, accessibility, what to see, and practical tips…

Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Malham Cove, Yorkshire Dales: Ticket prices, hours, parking & visitor guide (2026)

The first time I stood at the base of Malham Cove in North Yorkshire, I couldn't quite grasp the scale until someone at the top waved. That person — a tiny speck against the limestone — was 80 metres above me. This curved amphitheatre of…

Fort Point in San Francisco, California.

Fort Point, San Francisco: Ticket prices, hours & visitor guide (2026)

Discover the history and visiting details for Fort Point National Historic Site, a Civil War-era fortification standing directly beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. Fort Point National Historic Site is notable for its position directly beneath the southern anchorage of the Golden…

Kingsley Plantation, Jacksonville: Ticket prices, hours & visitor guide

Explore Florida's history at Kingsley Plantation. Get essential info on ticket prices, tour hours, and visiting the historic slave quarters. The first thing that catches you off guard at Kingsley Plantation near Jacksonville, Florida isn't the 1798 planter's house, elegant as it is. It's the…

The view from the driver's seat on Utah Highway 12.

Highway 12, Utah: Driving through America’s last mapped frontier

A ribbon of tarmac cutting through mesas, canyons and vast silence, Utah Highway 12 crosses one of the most remote landscapes in the continental United States. This is a drive where the land still dominates, and where the sense of discovery feels largely untouched. It…

A moose on the bank of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park.

Grand Teton National Park wildlife tours: Why a guide makes the difference

Once you’ve hired a car, a certain logic takes hold. You’ve gone to the expense of shelling out for the additional freedom, so it seems an outrageous waste to leave it parked outside the hotel while going on an organised tour. This is particularly the…