The biggest benefit you’ll get from hiking the backcountry of the spectacular Yosemite National Park isn’t what you’ll see, although those sights will likely stay with you for the rest of your life. The wilderness trails of the 1,187-square-mile park also offer you a treasured gift that naturalist and environmental John Muir and many explorers […]

San Francisco and its famous bay, originally inhabited by native Americans, became a possession of Mexico in the 18th century. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican-American War and the execution of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, California became part of America, and two years later, a state. Because San Francisco had been populated […]

If you could only visit one U.S. national park, which one would you choose? Would it be Bryce Canyon in Utah, a wonderland of fascinating topography? Or the scenic Yellowstone, with Old Faithful and other geysers? Perhaps you would choose Shenandoah, with its hardwood forests and miles of the Appalachian Trail. Then, of course, there’s […]