National Parks

Can you legally carry a firearm in national parks? While carrying on the trail is legal, a new lawsuit seeks to end the ban on guns in facilities like gift shops and visitor centers.

I’ve spent my career covering under-appreciated gems and getting away from the crowds. But there’s something to be said for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a bunch of strangers and staring at something gorgeous—especially in 2026.

You don’t have to leave the planet to feel like an astronaut. From hidden craters to secret NASA training grounds, these terrestrial sites offer a rare glimpse of the lunar surface.

A record-breaking March has rangers on high alert. We spoke to a veteran guide about the deceptive terrain and "pointless ups and downs" that are catching hikers off guard.

As the Department of the Interior pushes employees into "visitor-facing" roles and proposes to slash $736 million from the National Park Service budget, critics warn that the scientists and stewards who keep our parks alive are once again being purged.

Following a fatal 60-foot fall on the popular Alum Cave Trail, a veteran guide breaks down the extreme ecosystem and hiker behavior that make the nation’s most popular park deceptively deadly.

During the deadly yellow fever outbreak of 1873, a hurricane forced soldiers to bury one of their own inside the walls of Fort Jefferson. After a century of searching, archeologists finally know where.

Learn about the National Parks Access Pass for people with permanent disabilities, including how chronic conditions like diabetes qualify for a lifetime pass.

The agency just opened applications for seasonal roles across six iconic parks. Here is everything you need to know to get your application in before the deadline.

When leaked data revealed a plan to remove hundreds of historic signs, one outdoorsman created an interactive guide to archive them before they disappear forever.

From the most iconic national park to the newest national monument, much of America’s 640 million acres of public land is under siege. Here are the most endangered places, what we stand to lose, and our best chances for saving them.

Despite a government shutdown and reports of chaos, one California national park saw more than 4.2 million visitors last year.

At the southernmost tip of South America lies a 400,000-acre wilderness once considered too desolate to survive. Now, a massive new national park will finally invite the public to see the edge of the world.

The National Park Service has released its latest visitation numbers. The country’s most popular national park drew more than twice as many visitors as the second most visited. In contrast, some parks welcomed only a few thousand visitors over the entire year.

Death Valley National Park isn't the only place to catch this year's rare botanical phenomenon. Here are five other sites worth visiting.

After carving names into Michigan's iconic cliffs and taking 100 pounds of rocks, a group of visitors are now banished from the sandstone lakeshore for a year.

Health officials are alerting visitors to potential exposure after a vaccinated adult tested positive. Here is the timeline and what travelers need to know.

Massive lava fountains at Hawaiʻi’s Kīlauea led officials to close portions of the park. Just a few months prior, another eruption sent debris and lava straight into an observation camera. Here's what the scene looked like from the ground.

A newly published database includes hundreds of plaques, signs and pamphlets the National Park Service has flagged for review. Topics, including indigenous histories and pollution, now face potential removal.

A group of Texas border sheriffs wrote a letter of opposition in response to a proposed wall through Big Bend National Park. Big Bend represents just one portion of the nearly 2,000-mile wall slated to extend across the U.S.-Mexico border.

More than a dozen Democratic senators are demanding answers from the Department of the Interior about the removal of signs across national parks—displays that addressed topics including slavery, Native American history, and climate change.

After an unusually dry winter, the National Park Service says that it is preparing for lower-than-normal water levels at one of the country’s most popular summer hotspots.

Timed-entry programs just vanished from three of America’s busiest national parks. Other parks, meanwhile, are keeping them. Here’s what you need to know about national park reservations in 2026.

These parks come alive in the winter, with warm temps and surprisingly vibrant ecosystems that thrive when the rest of the country is huddling under a blanket of snow and ice.

Federal documents show that the Department of Homeland Security signed waivers for 28 environmental laws to expedite construction of a Smart Wall within one of America's wildest national parks.

In March 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to review how American history is portrayed at National Park Service sites. Here is the most comprehensive list yet of the signs that have been taken down or flagged for removal since.

The president's pick to lead the Park Service is Scott Socha, a longtime executive with NPS concessionaire Delaware North.

Two weeks before social media influencer Gabby Petito disappeared, she was involved in an encounter with local police—a harrowing scene now etched in the minds of millions of people who have seen the body cam footage of the traffic stop in Moab, Utah. An excerpt from the new book 'Murder on the Trail' breaks it down.

From catching Yosemite’s Firefall to biking a car-free Going-to-the-Sun Road, some of the most sought-after national park experiences only happen during a brief window every year. Start plotting your calendar now.

It used to be a dream job. In many ways, it still is. This is what it’s really like to work in America’s national parks in the present climate.

If you’re hoping to swap your office cubicle for a campfire this summer, we’ve got you covered.

Water issues across national parks have been wreaking havoc on visitor experiences, and continue to shut down facilities at some of the United States’ most coveted public lands.

Signs referencing slavery, climate change, and Native American history have been removed from at least 17 national park sites in six states.

Yosemite, Glacier, and other NPS sites are ditching timed-entry programs and reservation systems, raising fears that summer crowds may overwhelm some popular destinations.

Graffiti and other forms of vandalism at national park sites are federal crimes that carry penalties of up to $5,000 in fines and six months in jail.

As temperatures plunge and ice coats parts of the Southeastern United States, the National Park Service has closed visitor centers, caves, and scenic drives from Kentucky to Washington, D.C. Here is the full list of closures.

When we deny even symbolic gestures of inclusion, we risk minimizing and ultimately erasing their significance, writes contributor James Edward Mills

Mariah Reading was a national park ranger whose job was cut during the mass layoffs of 2025. Now, she’s fighting to save public lands one piece of trash at a time.

According to an internal directive, National Park Service employees at some of the nation’s most popular parks are now instructed to ask visitors questions about their citizenship status.

At an age when most people are in retirement, the civil rights activist returned to work at 85 to serve as a park ranger in California. For the following 15 years, she continued in the service of public lands, giving historical talks and tours.

If passed, the Utah Republicans’ proposal would have rescinded legislation that protects and maintains the boundaries of national parks as federal lands. Yet Senator Mike Lee told Outside, “selling national parks was never on the table.”

Record rainfall, flooding, and landslides have collapsed major highways, triggered mass evacuations, and left national park gateway communities in Washington and Montana in a state of crisis. Here’s what we know.

An artist in Colorado has begun selling stickers for American the Beautiful Passes that covers up the president's face with an image of natural beauty

An anonymous band of off-duty park rangers has risen up to defend America’s public lands from budget cuts, firings, and political neglect.

These five national parks, scattered across the county, have more to offer than winter recreation this time of year. Peep their holiday magic.

Cost of living in California near Yosemite National Park is notoriously high. Even so, federal officials are slashing wage rates for blue-collar workers, sparking outrage from the local union.

Hundreds of vehicles are estimated to have entered the park during the timed entry window each day during the summer, often leaving people on the road. Removing the reservation program may drive more visitors to arrive later in the day, during safer hours.

Earlier this year, more than 300 piles of human cremated remains were discovered on public land south of Las Vegas. A local funeral home now holds them, but their origins remain a mystery—and federal investigators aren’t talking.

A private meeting of Utah officials highlights a growing rift over how to manage crowding at the state’s most popular national park sites

Our articles editor plans to start a conversation about politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table—specifically, the devastating cuts to the NPS and the attacks on public lands

Non-U.S. residents will pay up to $100 extra to enter some national parks and $250 for an annual pass in 2026 under a newly announced pricing structure approved by the federal government.

A visitor found graffiti and toilet paper on a popular trail near one of the park’s iconic geologic formations

We spoke to labor experts and multiple NPS rangers about the push to unionize, and whether it can protect Park Service jobs from the federal government’s cutbacks

From a half-million symmetrical lakes to a lost gold mine, our national parks and public lands are home to fascinating and bizarre mysteries you can unravel on the ground

Outside and RE:PUBLIC reporters went deep inside three iconic national parks to see how America’s public lands are holding up under pressure

How a long weekend in the park revealed the uncertain future of America's public lands

Outside’s national parks columnist braved America’s busiest national park before a coalition of local governments and nonprofits had to chip in to keep the gates open

The Interior Department’s latest cuts, which total 2,000, target the NPS, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Division, and United States Geological Survey, among other agencies

At least 80 percent of funding from National Park Service recreation fees stays in the park where it is collected, and the other 20 percent is used to benefit parks that do not collect payments or parks that generate only a small amount of revenue

A reader’s backpacking permit was canceled due to the federal shutdown. He wonders if it’s still OK to go.

Our national parks columnist Graham Averill covers what’s likely to be closed, and what to expect this time around

That’s what a group of former National Park Service employees is urging in light of a looming federal shutdown

From the Great Smoky Mountains to Acadia, here are the prime spots for witnessing mother nature’s last gasp before winter takes hold

One day, hundreds of parks, countless ways to give back: here’s how to celebrate National Public Lands Day

Home to more than 1,000 glaciers, Southeast Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park just welcomed its newest island

After three Colorado River trips totaling more than 70 days, Outside associate editor Madison Dapcevich spent a week rowing whitewater through the Grand Canyon’s sister river

Big Bend does not see many visitors, but it has a high relative death rate.

The body of a Colorado man was located about 300 feet below the rim near the South Kaibab Trail

Google has released U.S.-based search data on the top queried national parks of all time, and the winner comes as no surprise. Here's why.

The area around a popular lake trail is replete with human waste. Park officials may install a permanent toilet.

The NPS says that refurbishing and reinstalling the toppled statue “aligns with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law”

The effigy was emblazoned with the words “Make America Wait Again,” and it toured the park on Saturday, July 12

Officials in Arizona and Colorado have closed huge swaths of parkland to visitors after lightning-sparked blazes destroyed thousands of acres and hundreds of structures

The executive decision also requires all NPS sites to grant American residents preferential treatment in permit lotteries

An expert roadtripper's guide to the best American road trips based on their proximity to adventure—from fly fishing holes to flowy singletrack and unreal stargazing.

The author of the proposal says the plan will generate millions for the beleaguered National Park System, which faces steep budget cuts in 2026