ARTICLES

For those who want to get the park and feature names right

The Tetons With the advent of social media, nearly everyone with something to say or a photo to show has become a publisher. Unfortunately few of us have editors, so mistakes are proliferating. For example, the exclamation whoa is often incorrectly written as "woah," although a word with that spelling would likely rhyme with Noah.

This problem has infected our national parks and their features, frequent subjects of shared photos. Well, if we're going to celebrate the parks, the least we can do is get their names right. So, with that goal in mind, here is a guide that addresses some common errors.

Author Ron Lizzi recommends naming summit of Alaska's Denali after President McKinley

OCT 1, 2015 - By RUSSELL STEVENS - GoOutsideBook.com

Denali compromise sign Author Ron Lizzi has proposed a compromise in the fight over the name of America's tallest mountain.

At the direction of President Barack Obama, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell recently changed the name of Alaska's Mount McKinley to Denali, the name used by Alaska natives.

In 1896, a prospector named the mountain for William McKinley, former governor of Ohio, who later became the 25th President of the United States and was assassinated in his second term.

For decades, Alaskans have sought to restore the name Denali, but those efforts have been blocked in Congress by legislators from Ohio.

American park ratings

Discover the country's scenic gems on an interactive map

By RON LIZZI - GoOutsideBook.com

Park Ratings Map In 1997, Consumer Reports, America’s leading consumer review magazine that rates everything from cars to coffee, evaluated US national parks. The article, based on survey responses from 40,000 readers, gave 50 parks overall scores for the readers’ experiences and separate ratings for scenery. Each park received a minimum of 350 responses. While park conditions may have changed since then, rendering some scores a bit out of date, the scenery ratings should still be valid and useful to vacationers seeking quality time in the outdoors.

Do you know America?

A short and scenic video quiz

By RON LIZZI - GoOutsideBook.com

One of the themes in my book Go Outside and Come Back Better is that many people are unaware of the scenic treasures available to them. To expand on that idea, I have created a fun (I hope) video quiz with scenes from across America. How many do you recognize?

The photos are, in order of appearance:

By RON LIZZI - GoOutsideBook.com

Zion's Great White Throne Here are 12 photos from my hike to Observation Point in Utah's Zion National Park on April 11. The hike goes from the floor of Zion Canyon to the top via the East Rim Trail. It's 8.0 miles (12.9 km) round trip with an elevation gain of 2,148 feet (655 meters).

Viva Las Vegas!

Sin City: gateway to nature?

By RON LIZZI - GoOutsideBook.com

Think about Las Vegas. Gambling. Shows. Glitz. One thing that probably doesn’t come to mind is nature. But, as I suggest in my book Go Outside and Come Back Better, it should.

That’s right, Sin City happens to be an outstanding gateway to outdoor recreation. Some of the country’s most spectacular scenery lies within a 150-mile radius.

What really sets Vegas apart, though, is its insatiable appetite for tourists, which makes it highly accessible and affordable. Flights in and out are plentiful and, depending upon the timing, relatively cheap. Car rental frequently costs less than it would in other cities, too. And of course the hotels will do most anything to fill their rooms—and their casinos, through which you must pass to get to those rooms. So a midweek stay in a posh room can be a real bargain when there’s no big convention going on.