With World Series excitement at an apex, we wanted to share some photos from an exhibition baseball game at Fort Scott National Historic Site in Kansas; this event took place on August 27, 2016, at the tail end of National Parks Service Centennial week celebrations. The fort was active in the mid-nineteenth century until the start of the Civil War. The Topeka Westerners took on the Wichita Bull Stockings "using 1860's rules, uniforms, and equipment." All photos are by Bob Wright.
We’ve been enjoying HBO’s newest prestige show, Westworld, based on a 1973 screenplay and film written and directed by Michael Crichton; part of our affinity for the show is that its landscape is familiar territory, with many scenes are set on state and national park land. The original film starred Yul Brynner and James Brolin; the HBO series includes Ed Harris, Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood, Anthony Hopkins and James Marsden.
The story presents an engineered amusement park inhabited by robots with intersecting and recurrent storylines. The concept brings up several interesting questions...can the human condition be replicated or changed? Is there such a thing as self-determination or free will? We don't want to spoil it, so will simply say that plot wise, the robots transcend the parameters of their design.
Several NPS units and state parks serve as locations for filming, including Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park, both in Utah, and the Paramount Ranch, located within the Santa Monica National Recreation Area.
Santa Monica National Recreation Area, courtesy of HBO.
Santa Monica National Recreation Area, courtesy of HBO.
The Paramount Ranch, part of Santa Monica National Recreation Area, photo by Amy Beth Wright.
Dead Horse Point State Park / Canyonlands National Park
Dead Horse Point State Park, courtesy of HBO.
Dead Horse Point State Park/Canyonlands National Park, courtesy of HBO.
Dead Horse Point State Park, photo from the National Archives.
Canyonlands National Park, photo by Amy Beth Wright.
Canyonlands National Park, Courtesy of HBO
Canyonlands National Park, Courtesy of HBO
Canyonlands National Park, photo by Amy Beth Wright.
Canyonlands National Park, photo by Derek Wright.
Have you seen other national or state parks in Westworld that we might have missed?
Discover the extremely accessible Shenandoah National Park, easily explored by car or on foot. Click here to find out more.
Our points earning strategy has been focused largely on hotels, of late; domestic airfare has never been a better bargain than it is right now, and we’ve been able to maximize value at low level redemption properties near the national parks – these offer a great value for relatively few points.
While much conjecture and advice has been circulated already in regard to Marriott International’s buyout of Starwood, it took us a while to decide how to allocate our Starwood points for the best value — but we have finally reached a conclusion! For those not closely following, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which include Sheraton, Westin, Aloft, W Hotels, Element among others, was purchased last year by Marriott International. At the moment, and probably until sometime in late 2017, you can freely transfer points to and from your Marriott and SPG accounts in a 3 to 1 ratio, where 3 Marriott points equal 1 SPG point. However, in 2017 or early 2018, all SPG points will automatically become Marriott points. However, until that time you can still earn and transfer both SPG and Marriott points — and therein lies the question. What is the advantage of hanging onto one’s SPG points, instead of rolling them into Marriott points immediately?
We feel that consolidation is always a shame, as having fewer and larger hotel chains generally means less competition and less desire to court frequent travelers — though its been a trend of late in the hotel and airline industries, so, we’ll have to go along for the ride. While this may not be the most popular move on in the blogosphere, we have decided to roll our SPG points into our Marriott points account without delay, for these compelling reasons:
SPG has 884 properties in the U.S. and Canada, while Marriott has 3,828 —more properties means more chances for redemption. Further, from our research and experience, it is much more likely to find one or two Marriott properties near parks in the U.S. and Canada.
Not only does Marriottoffer an abundance of properties, but many are proximal to national parks. The current transfer rate of 3 Marriott points for 1 Starwood point offers good values on low level redemption in places with good access to parks, and where cash prices are generally well over $100 a night. Notable Marriott properties include:
SPG offers an easy 1 to 1 ratio transfer of SPG points to a series of airline partners. When transferring 20,000 points or more, SPG gives you a 20% bonus on transferred points. Even if we weren’t flush with airline miles, domestic travel has never been cheaper — so unless there’s a really good advantage in using points, (as with Delta domestic awards fare sales, United short-haul 7,500 redemptions, AA Reduced Mileage Awards, or the Southwest Companion Pass), we’re most likely to pay cash and focus our points earning on hotels. Due to the increased popularity of domestic travel, hotels are only going up in price, and thus offering a greater redemption value on points. Plus, when redeeming hotel points, you aren’t charged the local hotel and sales taxes which can often be another $20-$30 a night!
This is the easiest way to get the Southwest Companion Pass, a buy one-get one free year-long pass from Southwest; you simply book one of the seven-day hotel + air packageswith Marriott (note that you’ll need to call Marriott bookings [1-800-321-7396] to score this deal) This is a great deal where you can book a seven day consecutive hotel stay on points and get up to 120,000 bonus airline miles for free! Check out the details and different Marriott points pricing levels here. After finding the level of hotel you wish to book, select Southwest as your airline redemption partner, and you’ll receive up to 120,000 Southwest points. At publication, these count as elite miles toward the 110,000 needed for the Companion Pass, enough to qualify with a bit to spare. You can earn this immediately, or wait until Jan 1, 2017 for the pass to be good through Dec 31, 2018. HOWEVER, knowing how deals die and how awesome this deal is, we’d give it 50/50 odds of living until Jan 1. You may want to jump now, though we’re going to wait it out and hope the deal still lives on in the new year.
Alexander Hamilton's desk at Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge National Historic Park
The deadline for the fall nonfiction contest has been extended to October 12, 2016.
The centennial of the U.S. National Parks Service has inspired us to contemplate our reverence for all shared public parklands; these are spaces for exploration and adventure, self-discovery and self-reflection, and identification with community. Parks and Points is dedicated dually to celebrating park spaces and to promoting domestic travel as accessible and affordable.
For our first writing contest, we are seeking nonfiction submissions of up to 1,500 words, in the form of autobiographical essay, reportage, profile, memoir, or narrative nonfiction that express a moment of significance — personal transformation, awakening, adventure, exploration, reward, accomplishment, revelation — that is inspired by or set within a park space. Note that your entry is not required to be about a U.S. national park, and that the writer does not need to be the subject of the essay. First, second and third place entries will be published on ParksandPoints.com, as will the names of finalists. All winners will be selected by contest judge Leigh Stein.
Prizes
As we are a travel and points based website, we are excited to offer prizes that reflect our love for and interest in travel:
*Our submission portal will be open from open from August 26, 2016 to 11:59 p.m. EDT on October 9, 2016.
*Winners will be announced by November 30, and published on Parks and Points shortly thereafter.
*Submissions of original and previously unpublished work should be no more than 1,500 words.
*Upon publication all rights to written work revert to the author.
*A $3 submission fee is required to enter. Multiple entries are permitted, but each requires a separate entry.
* Submissions will be judged blindly, without identifying information on the text, by contest judge Leigh Stein. Former or current students of Leigh Stein are regretfully ineligible for the contest.
*Email amy@parksandpoints.com with questions.
Photo by Brian Jacks.
Leigh Stein is the author of three books, including the new memoir Land of Enchantment. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Allure, Poets & Writers, BuzzFeed, Salon, and Slate. She is the executive director of the nonprofit organization Out of the Binders, and lives outside New York City.
We are thrilled to share Jim Jones' uplifting photo essay exploring the light, shadows, angles, corridors, and horizons that comprise the landscape of the American West. This series was created over a two week period in Badlands, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in July and August.
Please click the image to proceed to the full photo essay, or click here.
We interviewed Lilly Longshore, whose advocacy offers perspective on how national lands can continue to evolve in terms of accessibility. She also suggests specific national lands that offer exceptional opportunities to spend time on the trails. Check out the full interview here!
Come hike with us via our video through the three main trails of Assateague National Seashore, the Life of the Dunes, Marsh and Forest trails.
Additionally, here are some other vantages at Assateague National Seashore. Photos by Derek Wright.
For more on Assateague, read "Morning on Assateague" by Martin James Wood.
Photo by Bob Wright.
Over in our Tips and Tricks section, we have posted our new page about Amtrak and Amtrak Guest Rewards! Check it out by clicking here and let us know about your experiences with Amtrak and if you have any cool tips.
And so, another school year begins.
There is a wonderful opportunity that we want to be sure it on your radar, if there is a fourth grade student in your family! As of September 1st, all students entering fourth grade have access to their own Every Kid in a Park pass at www.everykidinapark.gov. The “Every Kid in a Park” promotion is offered by the Department of the Interior and the White House, and brings with it tremendous value, providing free access to fee based federal lands for the student as well as the family.
Free entry is not only to all National Parks Service units, but other fee-based federal lands like national forests, national wildlife refuges, and land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, for example Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas or Chincoteague Island in Virginia. The pass is good for a full year, from the date of issue to Aug 31, 2017.
This pass is nearly identical in benefits to the America the Beautiful pass (which is $80/year) and exists to encourage the entire family to tour our varied publics lands. These passes eliminate the cost of NPS sites like Yellowstone, Zion and Grand Canyon, where entry is between $25 and $30/car. If you visit a site that charges entrance fees per person, the pass admits all children under 16 and up to three adults for free. If your group visits a site that charges vehicle entrance fees, the pass admits all children under 16 and all adults in one passenger vehicle.
At www.everykidinapark.gov, children take a short fun quiz, and the pass is available for printout. The paper pass can later be exchanged at NPS fee sites for a plastic version, based on availability.
We are thrilled that the Department of Interior is nurturing the next generation’s enthusiasm for our protected lands, and as always appreciative of the great value of the annual passes; we bought our America the Beautiful pass in February of this year, and by April it had paid for itself park fees. As of August, six month later, it had essentially tripled its value! And we have more parks on our list for this year…how about you?
Contributor Wendy LaCombe Johnson recently moved from New York City to Oregon, stopping for two days during her cross-country trip in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone, designated by Congress in 1872, was the first official national park not only in the U.S. but in the world; its existence, along with Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks, influenced the 1916 formation of the National Parks Service. The short visit while in the midst of a road trip allowed she and her husband to distill for our readers some of the select sites to be sure to visit.
We drove into the park from Jackson Wyoming, along the Snake River, accompanied by jaw-dropping views of the Grand Tetons. Make a point of pulling over at the Snake River Lookout to see the spot where Ansel Adams took his famous stunning 1942 photo, “The Tetons and the Snake River.” The photo was commissioned by the U.S. government to further inspire visitation to national parks.
Entering the park through the south entrance, you are treated to more pristine views of the Tetons. This is a much less traveled road into the park, and worth the extra $20 admission to Grand Tetons National Park if you don’t have the National Parks Annual Pass.
There are two driving loops around Yellowstone, an upper and a lower. If you are driving either of the loops during the peak tourist months, as we were, be prepared for long stops and delays while bison cross the road, or tourists get out of their cars to take photos of elk grazing alongside a river.
We explored the lower loop on our first day, heading up the east side and dropping back down the west side, ending at Old Faithful. Highlights were the West Thumb Basin walk, where the boardwalk is a low-key meander alongside the expansive and lovely Yellowstone Lake, as well as the lower and upper falls, with breathtaking views. Be sure to take the 384 steps down to the lookout — well worth the climb back up. Also pause at the Artist Paint Pots, little bubbly areas where clay-like mud bloops and blops in a playful, cartoon-like fashion. As we dropped back down the west side of the lower circle, we stopped at the very popular Prismatic Spring. This is the largest hot spring in America, and a ring of rainbow around a pure blue pool of steaming water cast the spot as other-worldly and gorgeous. At Old Faithful we were surprised to see how much man-made development there was: a huge parking lot, three stores, and two inns. We appreciated the viewing area around this time-honored geyser, and there is plenty of room for the hundreds of visitors to observe from any angle. The extensive urban planning did make for an easy flow of all us gawkers. Be sure to check out the lobby of the Old Faithful Inn.
Photo by Wendy LaCombe Johnson.
The second day’s highlight of the upper loop drive was a long and lovely walk around the Mammoth Hot Springs. The drive progresses along a spectacular gorge, and the village below the Hot Springs is a nice spot to dip into the country stores to cool off and do some souvenir shopping. Any direction you choose to go along the upper loop will wind up and around a variety of calcium carbonate vents and terraces. The gurgling sounds and sulphur in the air add to the feeling of being on an entirely different planet. Be sure to look down often at the tiny outcroppings of unusual looking patterns in the earth. We also pulled over at the Sheepeater Cliff to take a tiny and refreshing stroll along the creek.
Yellowstone is such a unique environment. We feel incredibly lucky for the two days we had to immerse in this extraordinary park. What recommendations for Yellowstone would you add?
Photo by Wendy LaCombe Johnson.
