This book will serve as your interpretive guide to the magnificent Grand Loop Drive traversing the heart of Yellowstone National Park. You are about to experience one of the world's greatest wilderness preserves. For 142 miles, the Grand Loop Drive not only travels through forests, meadows and mountains, but will take you through or by the Earth's largest concentration of geysers and geothermal features, one of North America's greatest wildlife spectacles, a petrified forest, the continent...

Towering vertical walls of colorful sedimentary rock surround you, relaying simultaneously a contradictory feeling of intimacy and overwhelming grandeur. Zion is one of the true gems of the national park system. If you are planning a visit – or if you wish to visit the park vicariously – having an understanding of its geologic foundation, plant and animal communities and human history can truly enhance your experience. Ranger Dave Gafney spent years interpreting Zion National Park for park...

I was working a typical day job in Massachusetts, unmotivated and disconnected from what I really wanted in life when I received a phone call that would change everything. It almost felt as if God had called and asked if I would like to try out heaven for a few months. But it wasn't really God; it was the chief naturalist at Zion National Park offering me a five-month seasonal position. I gave my current employer two hours' notice, had some beers with my buddies that evening, and then drov...