Lands & Waters: Parks & Wilderness

Reclaiming Wilderness

It tells us who we are, and we lose it at our peril

By Kenneth Brower June 4, 2014

In this story: saving wild places, wilderness

Wandering among the alien rock formations of New Mexico's Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area, visitors often lose all sense of scale. This spire, known as a hoodoo, is barely six feet tall.

Those Not-So-Wild Europeans

Re-creating wilderness on a continent that has almost none

By Lenny Antonelli June 4, 2014

In this story: saving wild places, public lands, wilderness, travel, hiking

Looking across Ballycroy National Park to the Nephin Beg Mountains, which are at the heart of Ireland's first wilderness area.

Why Wilderness

By Michael Brune June 3, 2014

In this story: saving wild places, wilderness, inspiring connections outdoors, military outdoors

No Time for Tame

By Bob Sipchen June 3, 2014

In this story: travel, adventure, saving wild places, wilderness

If John Muir Tweeted

Muir had a gift for distilling profound thoughts into short sound bites.

By Michael Brune November 1, 2013

In this story: public lands

If John Muir could tweet, what would he say?

Last Words

September 1, 2013

In this story: animals, national parks

Mt. Rainier, Washington

By Jake Abrahamson September 1, 2013

In this story: climbing, travel, national parks

The Last of the Southwest

Otero Mesa, the remnant of a forgotten grassland, looks for a little recognition

By Peter Frick-Wright July 4, 2012

In this story: biking, adventure, wilderness, saving wild places

''The sky and land appear to be painted on a vast canvas in a way that forces the eye to focus afar.'' | Darren Huski

Explore Corkscrew Peak, Death Valley National Park

With each new plateau, the canvas changes color

By Deanna Lynn Wulff November 1, 2011

In this story: adventure, hiking, national parks

Corkscrew Peak, Death Valley National Park

Wilderness Diplomacy

Can photos of America's natural wonders inspire a cultural cease-fire?

By Steve Hawk May 20, 2011

In this story: national parks

Outside a house he's building for his family and surrounded by his children, Muhammad Jan, a 46-year-old builder and plasterer, displays photos of Biscayne National Park in Florida and Glacier National Park.